


Code Word: Chocobo

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ardyn - Freeform, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bad Touch Chancellor Ardyn Izunia, Creepy Ardyn Izunia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Gladio - Freeform, Hurt Prompto Argentum, Hurt/Comfort, Ignis - Freeform, Manipulative Ardyn Izunia, Protective Gladiolus Amicitia, Protective Ignis Scientia, Protective Noctis Lucis Caelum, Sexual Assault, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, Trust, Trust Issues, Violence, noctis - Freeform, prompto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: While camping with the group, Ardyn disguises himself as Gladiolus, lures Prompto outside of camp, and attacks him. Back at camp, Gladio hears Prompto calling for help and rushes to his aide. Prompto is left shaken and confused, unsure who to trust... while Gladio is equally confused and then frustrated by the younger man's fear of him.
Comments: 41
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This does not follow the plot of the game. I started with the point at which Ardyn is camping with the group, but the followup chapters don't go along the original plot. Those details aren't as important to the plot of this specific story, so I have them kinda just wandering around, collecting resources and items for upgrades, training together, camping... just generally existing without progressing the actual plot of the main story. This story has a pretty significant plot of its own and I didn't want to be limited by the original story's progression.

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Chapter 1

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"Mmmph." Prompto flinched and blinked his eyes open with a startled, muffled whimper, bringing his hands up toward the large hand clamped down over the lower half of his face. What a positively surprising and uncomfortable way to wake up...

"Shhh... Come here. I've got to show you something." Gladio's voice whispered. He still didn't move his huge hand off of Prompto's face as he went on. "You've got to come quickly. It's important that we're quiet. Let's go."

Prompto shook the older man's hand away from his mouth and pouted up at him as he pulled himself up into a half-sitting position. What could possibly be important enough to wake him up like this, so harshly in the middle of the night? "Weird way to wake a guy up, man..." He scoffed, seriously contemplating ignoring Gladio's request and going right back to sleep.

"Come on." The older man persisted, grabbing toward Prompto's wrist and starting to pull at his arm.

"Aww... It's so early... Gladio..." Prompto whined, barely able to bring himself to keep his eyes open. "Wh-"

"Shhh." Gladio urged again, looking quite serious as he pressed his hand down over Prompto's lips once again. His hand was so big it covered the smaller man's nose too. "Don't wake the others. This is important. I'm serious."

Prompto reached up with both hands, prying Gladio's hand off of his face again, which actually took a bit more effort than he was comfortable with. Gladio sure was being needlessly forceful about this.

"Okay. Geeze. Stop trying to suffocate me." Prompto glared as he shook his head, finally getting the larger man to back off a bit. "I'll go. Whatever is... better be something cool."

"You won't want to miss this." Gladio noted, smiling slightly.

The younger man exhaled tiredly, but dragged himself out from under his cozy blanket, which he wasn't seeing even close to enough of these days. Gladio wasn't one for practical jokes. If he was acting like this was important enough to get up in the middle of the night and stay quiet about it, he supposed he should trust it.

Prompto practically dragged his feet as he followed Gladio slowly away from the campsite, shrinking down and looking up with disgust as he realized it was lightly raining - again. It seemed like every other freaking day at this point. "Is it far? I maybe should'a brought my jacket..." Prompto complained, glancing back toward their sleeping quarters for the night. They were getting further and further away. "Gladio? Maybe I should go back and get a jacket?" He said again.

"It won't take long." Gladio answered, grabbing Prompto's arm for a moment and pulling him along, leading the way further into the darkness.

Prompto shrugged away from the older man's grip and frowned. "You don't have to drag me. I'm coming." He mumbled. "So freaking tired. You know Ignis made me get up early yesterday morning too? He made me cut up tomatoes... and I don't even think we ate tomatoes for breakfast... Wait... Were they for the chocobos? Do chocobos eat tomatoes?"

Gladio ignored his friend completely as he continued walking, trusting that Prompto was still following. He was lucky the younger man was going along with this. They'd been traveling so far, running, riding... It was exhausting. He needed his sleep.

Hugging his arms around himself and trying to keep from shivering, Prompto exhaled and forced himself to follow the older man. He was so tired, and it was cold out here. Gladio wasn't even being good company either. He wouldn't even say anything back. Whatever this was probably wasn't even a big deal. And why couldn't it wait until morning? Or until the rain stopped? Why did it have to be Prompto who had to come out here and deal with whatever it was? Gladiolus was the strong one. Noctis was the important one. Ignis was the expert on everything... Why the hell did Prompto have to be woken up and dragged out here? What could it possibly be that he was the one most suited to figure it out?

"This better be something really cool, Gladio. Or really important... And like, something I'm for some reason the only one who can solve... Or like a baby chocobo needing rescued or something... Is it a baby chocobo?" He perked up a bit at his own suggestion, jogging up closer to his friend's side and grinning excitedly up at him. "Does it have anything to do with chocobos?"

Gladio rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh..." Prompto frowned and decreased his pace again. "It's probably not something fun then... So we're just marching out into the dark, freezing, rainy night - not for chocobos... For some secret nonsense that's not even chocobos... Don't know why it had to be me, but I guess I trust you, Gladio. Probably won't after this if it isn't something that's a really big deal and also somehow something I'm considered an expert at - and again, if it's not chocobos... I'm not the expert... But if it's like a monster we have to kill, you should'a woken up like... I don't know, anyone but me... I mean, I'm okay. I'm getting better at it, I think. Just if it is something big, and-"

"Prompto. Please. Stop. Talking." Gladio interrupted, punctuating each harsh word with a small pause and leading his younger friend up toward a large stone wall. "For once, close your mouth. Stop making pointless noise. Your endless chattering is by far the most annoying thing I've experienced in quite some time."

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he looked up at the large structure blocking their path, which Gladio just led him out to as though it was something he absolutely needed to see right now, in the middle of a cold rainstorm. The wall was way too high to easily climb. He looked to the left, then the right. There didn't seem to be an end in sight. It was just a wall. A really big, heavy wall. There wasn't graffiti on it, wasn't any weird moss... nothing... So why were they here?

"Well, you leading me out to dead end, waking me up, soaking me in freezing rain, refusing to even tell me why... That's annoying too." Prompto glared as he turned back around and crossed his arms over his chest. This wasn't the first time Gladio accused his talking of being annoying, but he was usually not quite so harsh about it. The fact that he just woke him up for seemingly nothing wasn't funny either.

"You'll be interested in what I'm about to show you. Trust me." Gladio smirked, with a twinkle of something almost sinister in his eyes.

"Gladio... Are you kidding me?" Prompto felt his shoulders slump. Was this a trick? It wasn't really like Gladio... but was that what was happening? He was teasing? Making Prompto believe something was out here, tricking him into getting out of bed and walking through the cold rain...

Prompto shook his head and stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "And you think I'm annoying? Gladio, I was in the middle of a really good dream where we were at a taco shack, with like endless-" He cut himself off with a small breath as Gladio took a step toward him. They were already standing so close, and this additional step was very unneeded. "Um... Hey..." He laughed nervously, raising his hand up toward Gladio's chest and taking a step backward, bumping into the wall.

Gladio simply smirked down at him as he took another small step forward, further backing Prompto against the wall he was already pressed pretty close against. He was so tall, his chest broad, his arms thick with muscles. Even if he was joking, if he didn't want Prompto going back to camp, Prompto wasn't going back to camp. Joke or not, Gladio was very much stronger than his smaller friend.

"Come on, Gladio..." Prompto's shoulders slumped. "I don't wanna play fight or wrestle... It's like two o'clock in the morning and I'm exhausted. And it's freezing and it's wet..."

"We're not wrestling." Gladio laughed, putting his hand up against the wall, blocking Prompto's exit route with his arm.

"W-what are we doing then?" Prompto asked, glancing toward Gladio's huge arm, hearing his own voice was a little breathless. Was he scared? Did he honestly think Gladio was going to do something cruel? Gladio was his friend. He knew the man would never hurt him... Even so, he was acting weird, and Prompto couldn't help the tiny edge of worry in his mind. Was it a trick? How mean of a trick was it going to be? There weren't even witnesses to laugh when Prompto inevitably fell for whatever it was. Why was he doing this? What even was this?

Suddenly, he felt Gladio's hands on his chest, under his collar bones, shoving him back pretty hard.

Whimpering as the back of his head hit the stone wall hard enough to make his vision swim for a moment, Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk back. Prompto coughed and brought his smaller hands up toward Gladio's huge ones, trying to push the larger man back. "What the hell, man!?" Prompto complained, his voice shaking with both anger and a bit of fear. "That hurts! Don't do that!" Prompto reached out and shoved Gladio back, knowing he was nowhere near as strong as his friend, but still wanting to show him that his idea of a joke wasn't funny right now.

Gladio simply laughed as he barely let up, remaining quite firmly planted in Prompto's path.

Prompto felt his lower lip stick out in a pout as he raised his hand to the back of his head. "You're gonna give me a concussion, you jerk. Why would you do that?" Prompto glared. "You're lucky I'm not bleeding, man. That was hard! That hurt!"

"Sorry." Gladio smirked. He didn't look sorry. He didn't sound sorry. "You're so easy to shove around..." He noted, like that was new information... and worse yet, like it was information he planned on using.

"Whatever, Gladio. If you don't actually want anything, and you just woke me up to call me annoying and shove me around like a bully, I'm just gonna go back. This isn't funny." Prompto frowned, pushing past Gladio and starting back toward camp. "You need to go to sleep too. I think all these late nights and early mornings are getting to you. You're acting like a jerk. A weird, rude jerk."

"You think?" Gladio growled, grabbing Prompto's upper arm in a tight fist and dragging him backward again.

Prompto gasped, then coughed and squeezed his eyes shut as the force of his back meeting the stone wall knocked all of his breath out of his lungs. Gladio was putting so much strength into this. It wasn't like when they wrestled or playfully shoved each other back and forth... It wasn't like when Gladio put him in a head lock and laughed when Prompto couldn't free himself, while Prompto laughed too - where he knew Gladio could definitely hurt him, but also knew he never would.

This hurt... and he told Gladio that... and Gladio wasn't stopping. Prompto had made it so clear already that this wasn't a joke he was having fun with. Gladio didn't seem to care - and he was indeed being more rough with his friend than he ever had been before. Gladio never viciously slammed him up against a stone wall like they were enemies - never knocked the breath out of his lungs... When they wrestled, it was a test of strength. Gladio quickly won, then he eased up. He didn't slam Prompto around just because he could. This was just flat out mean. Even when they play-fought or trained together, Gladio kept Prompto's strength and abilities in mind. He held back, or backed off exactly when he needed to after proving his point.

Prompto felt tears in his eyes as he blinked them back open while still catching his breath. Gladio had closed in on him again, grabbing each of his upper arms in a crushing grip. His large hands practically circled completely around the younger man's limbs.

"Gladio... Stop..." Prompto whimpered, trying to shrink down as his breaths caught in his throat. He heard his voice shaking slightly now. He was more scared than he was angry now. "Ease up. You're hurting me, man... I'm not kidding. You're actually hurting my arms... I'm too tired for this..." He tried to force a laugh, hoping this would end up being a joke Gladio accidentally took a little too far.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Gladio cocked his head to the side and loosened his grip very slightly as he narrowed his eyes with a weird smirk. "I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I would never do that."

Prompto stared up into his friend's eyes. They looked not-quite-right... They looked amused, in a cruel way - like he was really enjoying watching Prompto's uncertainty and fear. They didn't look like Gladio's eyes... It was almost like he was looking into his longtime friend's face, but somehow at the same time into someone else's eyes. The larger man was smirking, still staring down at him like a hungry predator... Not moving, not backing off other than slightly loosening his grip. But he was still holding onto him - pretty securely.

"Um..." Prompto breathed, looking behind Gladio. He couldn't even see the campsite anymore. They'd walked further than he realized. "Okay... L-let's go back then..." He forced a small laugh, swallowing nervously as he stared back up into his friend's strangely foreign eyes.

"You've got a lot of fear and doubt in you don't you?" Gladio smiled very slightly, raising one of his hands up toward Prompto's cheek. He placed his other hand lightly over the younger man's ribs, rubbing very slightly.

Prompto swallowed. "Right now I do, man... What the hell?" He breathed, feeling practically frozen as he stared up at this friend. Gladio was such a strong, solid figure, blocking him up against the stone wall, refusing to let go, refusing to allow him to leave... getting creepier and weirder by the second. Prompto honestly didn't know what the hell to do.

"You're so small." Gladio noted, smirking as he moved the hand on Prompto's cheek lower, lightly gripping around the boy's neck as he continued rubbing the other hand over Prompto's ribs.

"Gladio..." Prompto whispered, feeling tears stinging his eyes. He really wasn't sure what was happening. What was Gladio's point here? Just to prove to Prompto that he was stronger than him? Prompto already knew that. He didn't need to be scared and humiliated to have that point proven. It was proven every day.

"Shhh... I won't hurt you." Gladio smiled. "I could, but I won't. It would be painfully easy."

Prompto blinked, sticking his lower lip out in a pout and trying to back himself further against the stone he was already pretty firmly pressed against.

"I could break your little ribs so fast." Gladio noted, running his hand up and down over the younger man's chest and side, dragging his fingertips across the lines of the boy's ribs. "All I'd have to do... is push you back." He did this as he said it, pinning Prompto harder against the wall. "And then push more - slowly crush them... Or just punch you."

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. "Gladio?" He frowned, raising his hands up toward Gladio's arm and grabbing at it, trying to pry it off of him. "Y-you're right... You could... b-but you don't need to like prove it..." He gasped.

Gladio smiled, but finally eased up a bit, no longer actually pushing his hand against Prompto's ribs. Still resting his palm against his small friend's jaw and neck, Gladio ran his second hand down the boy's side, fiddling somewhat subtly with the hem of his shirt, pushing his hand slightly up under the garment.

Prompto could feel the man's fingers lightly rubbing against the skin on his back, inching slowly higher, under his shirt. His other hand moved somewhat forcefully, but not necessarily roughly against Prompto's cheek and neck, while Gladio stared down at him with a smirk, a lingering presence that had Prompto wondering if the man was going to choke him... Or lean in and kiss him - maybe both at the same time. He felt like his heart had practically stopped in his chest. He was quite honestly scared.

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "You're acting like a weird creep, Gladio... Cut it out. Stop grabbing me and let me go back." He frowned, feeling the start of tears stinging at his eyes again as his heart pounded in his chest. He honestly didn't know what to think at this point. He and Gladio were such close friends. He never felt at all threatened by the man getting so close - and when they spent so many nights camping, they were indeed often very close.

Prompto moved around a lot in his sleep, and so did Gladio. He had woken up before with the guy practically on top of him - and vice versa... It was never threatening or uncomfortable. Just funny. This wasn't funny. Gladio grabbing his face, staring down hungrily into his eyes... The man's large, powerful hand groping up under his shirt... It wasn't anything but scary.

"Why are you acting like this? Let me go, Gladio... You're being a bully." He raised his now-free arm up and tried to knock Gladio's hand away from his face and then shoved against the man's other hand, pushing itself up under his shirt. "You're being weird. I don't like it. No one's laughing... So stop."

Gladio only grabbed his neck and jaw harder, grabbing his wrist in a bruising hold and eliciting a sharp gasp from the smaller man. Prompto felt his friend's thumb press over his lower lip as the older man licked his own lips and stared down at him. He still looked like a monster ready to eat Prompto alive.

Prompto tried to turn his face to the side, tried to shrink back, but Gladio's grip was only increasing. "Whatever the hell this is, you need to stop... I'm not kidding. You're scaring me!" Prompto gasped, his heart pounding faster and faster with each passing moment. He knew exactly what this seemed like... but he couldn't accept that in his mind - that Gladio was going to try to force something like that... He wouldn't...

"You need not be scared of me, boy." Gladio whispered, his voice breathy and low as he leaned forward, crushing Prompto's body between his own and the wall so he could use his hands for more than holding the younger man down. "I truly won't hurt you unless you make me..."

"Boy?" Prompto frowned. Gladio hadn't ever called him that... Gladio hadn't ever acted like this in general, or spoken so formally. "Gladio, stop it! If you hurt me it's not because I made you... You better not... Just let me go..."

Gladio simply smirked and let out a soft laugh as he pressed Prompto even more securely against the wall, running a hand up under his shirt as his other grabbed the boy by the back of his neck and pulled him close.

"What are y-" Prompto was cut off with a surprised, muffled whimper when Gladio leaned down, pressing his own mouth against Prompto's, forcing his tongue past Prompto's lips and teeth.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. He honestly didn't know what to do. Should he fight back - bite down... That would hurt Gladio - if Prompto bit his tongue... He didn't want to hurt his friend... But his friend was hurting him. He could just hurt him back - in self defense... But then what would Gladio do?

The larger man had already proven his strength, his willingness to be rough... Maybe Prompto would be better off to just keep his eyes closed, hold his breath, stay still, and wait for this to be over. Gladio wouldn't seriously take this further, right? It was Gladio... Prompto knew him. He trusted the man with his life... This betrayal was surprising, but it couldn't possibly get worse... Gladio wouldn't do worse than this...

Prompto felt himself shiver and let out another shaking whimper as Gladio's deep, unwanted kiss continued. His tongue pushed itself past Prompto's, deep and forceful, along with one of his hands running down the younger man's side, up under his shirt, resting on his lower back, pulling him closer, his fingers digging painfully into Prompto's flesh. His other hand moved even lower down the front of Prompto's pants, between his legs, grabbing, squeezing.

Prompto had finally had enough at that point. He wasn't going to just quietly allow this. He didn't think Gladio would ever so something like this, but staying still and quiet wasn't making what was happening any less real. The Gladiolus Prompto thought he knew wouldn't do this... but he was doing this... It didn't matter that Prompto could hardly believe it. It didn't matter that this was so unlike him. It was happening, and Prompto wanted it to stop.

With a frantic, muffled whimper, Prompto flinched back and resumed fighting. He put his hands on Gladio's chest and shoved him back as hard as he could manage, not successfully distancing himself from the man, but at least making the kiss stop. He could breathe again. He could speak again.

"Gladio, please!" Prompto breathed, his voice shaking with unshed tears. "What are you doing? Get off of me!" He reached down with both hands, toward Gladio's arm - the one groping between his legs. "Stop!" The younger man cried, trying to scramble away, but feeling quite trapped between his friend and the firm, stone wall.

The larger man finally seemed to listen for a moment, moving his hands off of Prompto's body, leaving the boy to shrink down slightly, breathing shaky, fearful, confused breaths. Gladio put one of his hands on either side of the younger man's head, using his arms to block the smaller man's exit routes.

"What are you doing?" Prompto whispered again, his voice and body shaking as he shrunk down slightly. Gladio's arms followed him down, still blocking any potential escape.

"What does it look like?" Gladio laughed. "Don't panic... You're fine. It's just a bit of fun. You'll be fine. Just calm down. I'll move slowly and carefully. I know there's a big size difference here, but I'll be careful not to hurt you as long as you cooperate. It doesn't have to be scary."

Prompto shook his head as he stared nervously through unshed tears up at Gladio's face. "I don't like this. You're not being funny. This isn't funny, Gladio... You're scaring me..."

"I'm not trying to be funny." Gladio smirked, placing one hand on Prompto's waist and the other against his cheek again. "But you don't need to be scared either. Though I'm not totaly opposed to it." He added with an arrogant grin as he leaned down closer.

Gritting his teeth together, Prompto turned his head to the side. He didn't want another forced kiss. The first one left him breathless, confused, and honestly terrified.

"Are you going to cry, little Prompto?" Gladio smiled smugly as he grabbed onto Prompto's upper arm with a hard fist and pushed his other hand up under the younger man's shirt, running his fingers up over Prompto's abdomen. "You're so soft, but I can tell you try. You've got a bit of muscle on your little body, haven't you?"

Letting out a shaky breath, Prompto stared up into Gladio's eyes. He was so confused, so scared. Why was Gladio acting like this? The whole thing made no sense. He was talking weird, doing things Prompto knew he'd never, ever do...

"Go ahead and cry." Gladio offered, sliding his hand down Prompto's stomach and back to where it had been before between his friend's legs, roughly grabbing and squeezing over his pants. "I might find that I like it." Gladio added with a sickening smirk.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered softly as he grabbed uselessly at Gladio's muscular arm. The other man was so strong. Prompto could hardly even begin to fight back. His hands were so roughly pawing, grabbing, squeezing. It was more than embarrassing and an infringement of Prompto's personal space. It actually hurt.

"Gladio... Please stop... You're hurting me..." Prompto whispered, blinking his eyes back open, trying not to cry as he was forced to endure his friend's rough, unwanted wandering hands. "A-are you drunk?"

"Not in the slightest." Gladio chuckled, finally moving his hand away from Prompto's pants and opting to hold onto his waist and cheek instead, pulling the boy's face close again and leaning down as if to force another kiss.

Prompto immediately turned his head, shrinking down and breathing a small, shaky breath. "Please don't..." He gasped. "Gladio, I don't like this... Please... J-just stop."

Gladio stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "So rude, Prompto... Not even just a little kiss for your old friend?"

Prompto silently shook his head and shrunk down. Gladio knew this already. He knew Prompto didn't want this... and if he really was sober, there was no explanation for why on earth he was behaving like this. Gladio wasn't even known to be a drinker. He didn't smell like alcohol... As far as Prompto knew, they didn't even bring alcohol with them... He didn't think Gladio would act like this if he were drunk either... but something was wrong with him. There had to be some reason he was doing this.

"That's a shame." Gladio stared, looking somewhat angry. His stare made Prompto's blood run cold.

Prompto felt his lower lip trembling as tears stung at his eyes. He couldn't believe Gladio would do this. He saw the man as an older brother - and a really protective one too. He always thought Gladio would keep him safe - not be the source of danger. Even though he never thought he'd need to do so, he started to beg - to beg his friend not to hurt him, to plead for mercy and safety he never before thought he'd have to ask permission for from this man.

"Please just let me go back..." Prompto whimpered, for now ignoring the hands on his waist and cheek, trying to play nice while also pleading to be let go. Maybe Gladio somehow got the wrong idea - maybe he thought Prompto wanted this and was embarrassed to back out at this point, not wanting to seem like he misjudged the situation, even though he sure as hell did... Maybe Prompto just needed to reassure the older man that everything would be fine - that they'd be friends still... Even if Prompto probably would feel the need to watch his back around Gladio forever after this.

"It's okay..." Prompto whispered, trying not to cringe as his friend leaned down closer, so close he could feel the man's breath on his cheek. "We can just walk back together... Go back to sleep... I'm not... like mad or anything... Don't take this as a rejection... b-but more like a no thanks. We're still friends. No hard feelings. I'm not mad..."

"Great to hear, Prompto." Gladio laughed, leaning down and forcing another kiss, this time a fairly rough one, holding Prompto's face in place with a hand reaching back around the back of his neck. His other hand groped painfully around Prompto's back, pulling him even closer still.

Prompto was unable to pull away until Gladio allowed him to, and even then, it wasn't far. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared breathlessly back, shaking his head in a desperate plea for mercy."Gladio, don't do this... I don't want to... Please don't hurt me. I just want to go back to how things were before..."

"Your tears really are a delicious sight." Gladio commented, reaching up and wiping a hand across the younger man's cheek. "I know I told you that you didn't need to be scared, but I think I kind of like it. You're so small and delicate. It's kind of exhilarating to see you so broken, so frightened, helpless..."

Prompto let out another soft whimper as he flinched back. He felt so entirely powerless, so embarrassed, ashamed... He didn't know what to do. He couldn't understand why his friend was doing this to him, and clearly didn't know how to make him stop.

Gladio shook his head and offered a very slight smirk. "Don't panic, sweet boy... I see your fear - it's not needed. I won't be rough if I don't have to be... Besides, it's a little late to turn back now. You're already going to make this into something it doesn't have to be..."

Prompto shook his head and widened his eyes. "I won't say anything to Ignis or Noct... I won't... I won't make this into anything... We can just stop, right now, go back... Pretend it didn't happen. I'll never say anything about it again. I won't make it into a big deal. I swear. We'll just forget this. It's fine... It was like... an experiment that didn't work out, okay? I'm not mad... We'll just stop here, forget about it, and never talk about it again..."

"I'm not finished. We can forget it when I'm finished... Though I certainly won't be forgetting you any time soon." Gladio smirked.

"What's wrong with you?" Prompto stammered, letting out another shaking cry as the man grabbed his lower arms, wrestling them up above his head and pinning them both against the stone wall with one of his large, crushing hands. Prompto could feel the larger man's fingers creating bruises.

"Stop! Gladio, stop!" The younger man whimpered. "You're hurting me! Why are you doing this!? What did I do!?" He felt tears streaming down his face. He couldn't understand why Gladio decided to do this. Did Prompto piss him off earlier today? He didn't remember anything unusual... just the normal chit chat and jokes. Did he make a comment on Gladio's size... Was Gladio teaching him a lesson for that? "Gladio, please!" He sobbed. "I'm sorry! Whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry! I don't know what I did! What did I do wrong!?"

Gladio crushed Prompto's wrists hard against the wall as he leaned forward and stuck his lip out in a mocking pout. "Blaming yourself for this? You poor boy... You're so uncertain... Your endless talking and confidence is all an act isn't it?"

Prompto inhaled a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't understand any of this. Gladio was his friend - often his protector... The man was so big, so strong. Prompto always counted on that as something to make him feel safer - nothing could hurt him with Gladio there to defend him... But he never considered that Gladio might be the enemy - might be the one who needed to be defended against.

Prompto's eyes shot open as he felt his friend's hand pulling at the front of his pants, ripping at his belt, struggling to force his fingertips down the front of the garment. "Don't!" Prompto gasped, somehow freeing his arms and reaching both hands down to grab at Gladio's, trying to pry it away from him. "Gladio, please!" Prompto cried.

When his friend made no move to ease up, Prompto knew he had to act. He had to be more forceful, no matter how scary it was to fight back as hard as he was capable. He had to. The alternative was more horrifying.

So he balled his hand into a fist and punched out against Gladio's face as hard as he possibly could.

xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

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Punching Gladio in an effort to make him stop absolutely did not pay off. The second his fist collided with Gladio's cheek, Prompto felt a sharp pain in his hand, followed by an even worse pain to his cheek and nose as Gladio hit him back, so much harder than Prompto had ever been hit by anyone in his life.

Choking out a shaking whimper and bringing his hand up to his now bleeding nose, Prompto allowed himself to slide partially down the wall. Gladio wasn't ready to let him crumple into a defeated heap on the ground though. He grabbed the front of the boy's shirt and dragged him back up, slamming his back hard against the stone surface behind him.

Prompto coughed a painful breath. His vision was swimming at this point. He felt like he was fairly close to fainting. Maybe it was on purpose. Perhaps Gladio had hit him just hard enough - so he didn't pass out, but so he was close - to make him easier to manage, but to not allow him the comforting bliss of unconsciousness.

"Do not ever hit me." Gladio growled, no longer even sounding like himself.

Prompto sobbed softly as he kept both of his hands up against his nose. Not that it mattered. Catching the blood wasn't going to make it stop bleeding. It wasn't going to get him out of this nightmare.

"Gladio, please..." Prompto choked shakily, squeezing his eyes shut since his vision was darkening anyway. He felt that he was physically shaking - maybe because it was cold - he had been shivering even before all this... but he felt like he was shaking more now, if only because he was so frightened.

Prompto honestly didn't know what to do from here. He was so clearly outmatched. He never thought he'd have to fight Gladiolus for real. They only ever trained, with the understanding between the two of them that Gladio would hold back. After all, if Gladio didn't hold back, things would clearly be more like this - a one-sided massacre more than any training for anyone. It just wasn't fair for the larger man to use his full strength. It was something Prompto didn't have and never would.

To have to actually be up against the man without any sort of barrier, with no head start of any kind... It just wasn't possible. Gladio's arms were as thick as Prompto's thighs - maybe even bigger. The man could lift up swords just about as heavy as Prompto's whole body. How the hell was he supposed to get away from the guy if Gladio didn't want him to?

It seemed the larger man was not prepared to show him any mercy whatsoever. A part of Prompto just wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, dissociate, and wait for it all to be over. He was getting hurt a lot just by fighting back, and it seemed Gladio was going to do what he wanted either way. A part of him honestly wondered if he just closed his eyes, took his mind somewhere else, and let Gladio do whatever he wanted, if things would be easier, over sooner. Done...

A more prominent part of him couldn't bear to do that... He wanted to keep fighting until he was passed out or dead. He knew he couldn't win this fight - not with Gladio using his full strength... but he could try. He could make it difficult at the very least. He had to try. The alternative was just too horrifying. If he had to suffer through this, he wasn't going to make it easy.

"Get off of me!" Prompto screamed in a shaky, frantic voice, thrashing his body as best as he could with a new-found sense of urgency and energy, while Gladio's hands pinned and crushed him down. "Don't touch me! Let go!"

"Stop." Gladio growled, grabbing with hard, bruising hands at Prompto's arms, pinning them down as he pressed his body against the boy's chest, even further pinning him to the wall. "Stop fucking moving. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then stop!" Prompto sobbed, still trying to twist his body and escape the man's grasp. "You are hurting me! Gladio, let me go! Please!"

"I'm hurting you because you're not cooperating." The other man growled. "Stop moving."

When the man only grabbed him harder, Prompto started feeling completely frantic, completely trapped, and therefore more willing than ever to give fighting back his all. He kicked out as best as he could, tugged at his arms, and thrashed his body in the tiny bit of space he had to work with. "Gladio, stop! Stop! Get the fuck off of me!"

Maybe it was because Prompto was struggling too much, screaming too much - maybe his efforts were actually making this difficult and even unpleasant... Maybe Gladio just wanted to be cruel, but Prompto soon found the older man's thick forearm pressed painfully against his throat, both holding him down against the wall and restricting his breathing.

"Oh, what a little mouth you have on you!" Gladio smirked as he laughed and pressed his arm down harder across Prompto's throat. "Are you getting angry? Am I invading your personal space?"

Prompto gritted his teeth together, squeezing his eyes shut as tears dripped down. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't even beg the man to let go. He couldn't tell him that his actions were potentially lethal. Gladio was putting so much force into the gesture. This could actually kill him... He couldn't breathe...

Prompto tried to say something, but it only came out as a tiny, weak, unintelligible whisper. He reached both hands up toward Gladio's arm, trying to pull it back. He was pretty sure he was unintentionally scratching his own neck with his fingernails, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Please-" He whispered hoarsely, squeezing his eyes shut again as tears streamed down his face.

He felt Gladio pulling at the front of his pants again with his other hand, sliding his belt out of a few of the belt loops, unclasping the button and starting to tug the garment down.

Prompto felt shaking, heartbroken sobs rising in his chest, but unable to make it past his throat. He felt his vision growing dark around the edges. He wanted to fight back down there - to do whatever he could to keep the man's hands away from him, to keep his pants up at all costs... but he couldn't breathe. He couldn't bring himself to put anything else above that, as he knew he sure as hell wasn't going to be fighting back if he was unconscious - or worse, dead. He had to get the arm back away from his throat.

With his ears ringing and his vision clouding over, Prompto blinked, for a brief moment swearing Gladio looked exactly like Ardyn... "Wh-" He choked, squeezing his eyes shut again and pulling uselessly at the arm keeping him from breathing. When he opened his eyes again, he saw it was still Gladio. Was he going crazy? Was he seeing things? Was everyone around here going crazy... Did Ardyn have some kind of magic powers to make himself look like Gladio? Why would he do that? Why would he do that, to do this?

Suddenly, the arm across Prompto's neck drew back enough for him to inhale a deep, shaking, painful breath. He blinked through tears as he swore he saw Ardyn again - right where Gladio stood... Only between a few blinks did the man appear, but it was definitely him... A trick, either from Ardyn's mind or Prompto's... Maybe he was fooling himself, just wanting to believe for any reason that it wasn't his friend here right now - that Gladio couldn't possibly do this to him...

He could swear he heard footsteps in the distance, leaves rustling by something or someone's movement - maybe the wind... a monster, maybe someone from camp... He felt himself perk up a bit when he considered that. Someone from camp might hear all this. They'd gotten a fair distance away, and the rain was extra noise... but it was worth a shot.

Perhaps it was time for Prompto to stop begging Gladio to let him go and start screaming for help from someone else... Noctis and Ignis were at camp, and camp, though not exactly close, wasn't that far either... If he screamed loud enough, surely someone would wake up... That, or a monster would hear and kill both him and Gladio. Maybe that would be better than this though. It would at least give him a chance to run while Gladio fought it off.

At the same time Prompto started contemplating screaming, Gladio grabbed one of the boy's arms, twisting him around and slamming him hard, face-first against the stone surface rising from the ground before him. He felt his cheek scrape painfully against the hard, rough wall he was so securely pressed against.

He choked a pained gasp as his attacker jerked his arm up harshly behind him with one hand, and reached down toward his pants with the other, violently tugging at them.

"We've played around long enough, my boy. Let's cut to the chase now, shall we?" Gladio cooed, sounding so fucking smug it made Prompto want to punch him again, regardless of how hard he knew the man could punch back.

He couldn't reach Gladio's face to do so from this position though, so he was left breathing in pained breaths, pressing his hand against the wall, and thrashing and twisting his body around any way he could with his arm pinned down. The way Gladio had him held down, with his arm pulled back sharply, being pulled even harder ever time he moved, Prompto didn't seem to have much of a chance at fighting back. He had to scream then. He had to call for help, and hope that anyone at all might hear.

Prompto breathed out one more shaking, terrified breath before letting out a small scream, unfortunately a bit drowned out by the fact that he was still out of breath and his voice seemed temporarily hoarse from nearly being choked to death. It was better than staying silent.

"Help me!" He sobbed, reaching with his free hand down toward his pants, grabbing at them desperately, trying to keep them up while Gladio was trying to tug them down. "Gladio, please! Don't! Gladio! Stop! Don't do this! Somebody help!"

"Prompto!?" A worried, frantic voice called out from somewhere nearby. It wasn't close enough to make him feel he'd been saved, but it wasn't far enough to keep him feeling hopeless either. Someone was near, looking for him, yelling his name...

Prompto inhaled a sharp, shaky breath, blinking and trying to turn his head toward the sound. Was that Gladio's voice calling out to him? How could that be with Gladio right here already? Did that mean it truly was Ardyn pinning him against the wall right now, somehow disguising himself as Gladio to lure Prompto away from camp? And the real Gladio was nearby looking for him? He definitely wanted to believe that was the case. He didn't want to believe his friend would hurt him like this.

"Ardyn?" Prompto whispered as he tried to turn around enough to see his attacker. Somehow it was even scarier to suspect it was Ardyn here - a man virtually a stranger to him, tricking him into following him far away from the others... If the man truly had this sort of power, he could have done virtually anything. He could have easily gotten Prompto into the car, driven him off somewhere secluded... He could have done all this and more with no time limit, no risk of being heard. It made his blood run cold to consider it.. but at least it would mean Gladio didn't betray him.

Prompto let out another shaky, pained whimper as whoever was pinning him harshly against the wall shoved him even harder, scraping his cheek roughly against the cold stone once more. He felt his arm jerked back again, fingers digging into his side as his attacker shoved his hand between the waist of his pants and his skin, tugging down violently, scratching at his skin almost as though his fingernails were claws.

"Hold still." A harsh voice growled. Prompto couldn't tell who it sounded like now - almost like Gladio, but not quite... and so, so angry. "Shut your mouth for once and hold still, or you're going to get hurt." The voice threatened. "I wouldn't want your loud, obnoxious mouth getting me in trouble - or getting you more injured than you already are."

"You don't have to do this..." Prompto whispered, trying to keep his aggressor happy by not being loud, but also still not willing to quietly submit to this. He was going to start screaming again if the guy didn't stop. He had to...

"Please just stop..." He breathed, his voice small as his chest rose and fell so rapidly he wasn't sure any air was even reaching his lungs. The younger man still gripped his own pants in a very tight, even painful fist, keeping Gladio-Ardyn... Whoever the hell it was... from pulling them down. Prompto had never done something like this before, and certainly didn't want to tonight.

His attacker let out a low growl as he grabbed at Prompto's free hand, wrestling it up toward his other arm and pinning both against his back with one strong, bruising fist. "Shut up so I don't have to make you." The increasingly foreign-sounding voice hissed. "This'll be a lot better for me if you're not dead during it, but I can't say I might not enjoy it anyway in that case."

Prompto felt the man's hand down by his hips again, grabbing at his pants, this time having nothing stopping him from pulling them down. Both of Prompto's arms were trapped - useless...

"No, please!" Prompto sobbed, squeezing his eyes closed as tears streamed down his face. He pulled desperately at his arms and thrashed his body as best as he could, but his attacker had him pinned rather securely, with his arms trapped, his lungs overworked and underfilled... his heart pounding and his vision fading. He was so panicked, in so much pain, exhausted, terrified...

"Please stop!" Prompto begged as he felt his pants being pulled down over his thighs. "Please don't do this!"

"Prompto! Where are you!?" Gladio's voice sounded closer now, but still not close enough. "What's happening? You gotta tell me where you are!"

"Gladio! Help me!" Prompto screamed, frantic tears choking up his words. "I'm by a wall! I don't know! I don't know where I am..." He sobbed, feeling himself giving up as the hand on his arms squeezed threateningly. The wall was so tall, so long, and he hadn't been paying attention on the way here... He couldn't pinpoint his location or call out any other landmarks besides the wall. Gladio was never going to find him, especially now, when he felt like his breaths and voice were failing him.

"Shut your mouth." Gladio's angry growl sounded behind him, once again not quite sounding like the man anymore. It wasn't him. It couldn't be... It just looked like him. It was some kind of horrible trick.

Prompto felt so exhausted, so drained. He couldn't keep fighting back. His arms were tired from uselessly straining his muscles in a fruitless attempt at escape. His legs felt like jelly. His vision seemed only half there and he wasn't even sure he was breathing anymore. If he weren't being held up by whoever it was behind him, he'd have probably fallen to the ground.

"Prompto!?" Gladio yelled again, seemingly closer this time.

Prompto couldn't even manage to speak. He only let out a shaking, heartbroken sob. Probably loud enough to be heard still, but giving no additional clues to his location.

"Hold still." The increasingly foreign-sounding voice behind him growled as Prompto felt his arms squeezed painfully tight as his pants and underwear were wrestled down. He felt the other man's damp clothes press against his now-exposed skin as he leaned in close and whispered. "This will be so much worse for you if you don't shut up and stop moving. Just shut up. For five damn minutes. The louder you are, the more difficult you make this... the harder I'm going to do it."

Letting out a breathless whimper, Prompto groaned in pain as his attacker pushed him firmly against the wall. The man's legs pinned Prompto's harshly in place against the stone slab as his hand and arm pressed painfully against the smaller man's arms and back at the same time. Prompto couldn't move. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything about the way Ardyn was holding him down was painful, crushing, suffocating. Prompto felt almost numb, completely panicked, cold and exposed, embarrassed... but mostly scared half to death.

"Please..." Prompto choked, feeling himself giving up. He was so exhausted, in so much pain. He just wasn't strong enough to fight this. His only chance was to be granted some degree of mercy by someone other than himself - by Ardyn letting him go, or by Gladio or someone else finding him and stopping the man. He wasn't sure he could count on either. He could barely even speak at this point. He could barely breathe.

"Shhh... Relax. It'll only hurt for a minute." Ardyn whispered, tugging Prompto's pants and undergarment down a few more inches, then running his fingers lightly up over the skin he'd revealed and then up under the back of the boy's shirt, grabbing painfully around his waist and shoving him harder against the wall. "Don't cry. Don't panic... Just calm down. Relax. It won't hurt you as badly if you relax."

"Prompto!? Can you hear me?" Gladio was sounding closer and closer... So long as the other Gladio - or Ardyn, or whoever he really was didn't do something drastic, maybe Prompto would be saved... Or maybe Ardyn would just attack Gladio - kill him... Or do some other strange magic to keep Prompto here - or take him elsewhere...

"Gladio?" Prompto gasped, his voice tiny and breathless through his shaking sobs. "Please help me..." The fact that his voice was so strained, so quiet, was certainly not making him feel hopeful. No one was going to hear him now, with his energy all but completely drained, his voice - the only potential weapon he had left - practically useless.

Shrinking down, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to take his mind somewhere else, Prompto sobbed painfully. He could barely even speak or breathe. His legs felt like the muscles in them were pretty much paralyzed. He was so scared. He didn't know if he should call out again at this point. What if it got his friend hurt? What if Gladio rushed to save him and got killed for it. "Please don't hurt me..." Prompto whimpered. "Please let me go... Please..."

For a moment, the Gladio-imposter's hand moved away from Prompto's waist. He pressed his hand over Prompto's mouth instead, pulling his head painfully back. Prompto blinked his eyes open wide, staring at the stone wall inches from his face as he couldn't bring himself to even breathe.

"For the last time... Shut. Up." Ardyn growled. "Are you capable of closing your damn mouth? I should have made you use it. You wouldn't be annoying me so much if I'd filled that loud little mouth up with something."

Tears spilled from Prompto's eyes as he shook his head as much as he could with his attacker's hand firmly planted over his mouth.

"You might have enjoyed this if you hadn't panicked." His attacker noted in a low voice, whispering into his victim's ear, still pulling Prompto's head back painfully against his chest, hard enough to make the boy's neck actually hurt. "I may have to bow out now so your big hulking friend doesn't discover us... I'll find you again later. I wouldn't want to disappoint you, nor myself... but your endless whining and crying has drawn attention... We'll find time to finish this."

Shaking his head and choking out another frightened sob, Prompto squeezed his eyes back shut. He was still scared. Just because Ardyn said he was going to stop didn't mean he would... And it didn't mean he was leaving. He could mean he was stopping for five minutes - enough time to kill Gladio, then come back and finish...

"Your loud mouth indeed seems to have saved you this time, unfortunately. We'll have to cut this short... for now." A voice that sounded much more like Ardyn hissed from right behind him. Finally, he let go of Prompto, shoving him harshly against the wall, but at last letting go, and seemingly fleeing.

Prompto sunk down to the ground, pulling up his underwear and pants with shaking hands as he fell. He didn't get them completely up, but managed to cover himself back up at least.

Shaking his head, Prompto squeezed his eyes shut, raised his hands up toward his face, and sobbed. He still felt like he could barely breathe. He was scared, confused, heartbroken, in pain. He couldn't believe what had just happened - what had almost just happened to him... Prompto could be naive sometimes. There were plenty of times he felt like things flew right over his head, but he wasn't blind, and he wasn't stupid. He knew what Ardyn - or Gladio - or whoever the hell that was - was trying to do to him.

Just thinking about what he'd just narrowly avoided made him want to throw up. Ardyn was like twenty seconds away from really, really hurting him... In the worst possible way. Prompto was so exhausted and hurt by then that he couldn't do anything about it. He could barely move, breathe... Was feeling numb and disoriented. His vision was clouding at the edges. He wasn't going to be able to fight the man off. Adryn was 100% going to fucking do it, and it was going to hurt horribly. What if Gladio hadn't called out from nearby? What if no one had heard Prompto's cries and scared his attacker away? Ardyn wouldn't have stopped. He'd still be doing it... Right now.

Prompto shuddered, curling further in on himself and covering his mouth with his hands as a shaky, pained sob worked its way out of his mouth. He wanted to disappear. The worst of it hadn't even happened, but it could have. It almost did. He was so scared, so ashamed.

He still heard Gladio's voice out in the nearby woods, drawing nearer and nearer, calling out his name... But at this point Prompto didn't even know what to do, whether to call out, try to help the man find him... Did he want to be found? Was it even was Gladio out there... Was it Gladio who just attacked him? Or was it Ardyn? How the hell had the guy looked like one of them, then the other? None of this made sense...

Prompto looked around himself for a moment, shrinking down and letting out another shaky, frightened sob. He had no idea what was real anymore. The person who attacked him looked and sounded just like Gladio... for like 95% of the incident. It was Gladio... It was him. Then for a few brief moments it looked like Ardyn instead... but what did that mean? How did Ardyn do that? Or was it even Ardyn? Did Gladio do something? Was Prompto just so stressed and terrified that he was imagining things?

He didn't understand what just happened. He had been so sure Gladio had woken him up, dragged him out here... It looked and sounded like him, until it didn't. What did it mean? If it was Ardyn, was he going to come back and do it again? If he could look like Gladio, could he look like anyone? How could Prompto ever feel safe again?

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	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

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With a relieved exhale, but with worry still in his steps, Gladio rushed toward Prompto, who was bent over on the ground near a large stone wall ahead of him. The younger man was curled into a small, defensive ball, hiding his face in his hands and crying pitifully.

Gladiolus had woken up in the night about five or ten minutes prior to find both Prompto and Ardyn were gone... They didn't really know the man that well, and Prompto pretty much always approached any new person with a healthy dose of skepticism and even fear. He wouldn't have just wandered off with the man in the dark, not by himself... The fact that they were both missing was definitely alarming.

So Gladio had set off to look for the two, eventually hearing what sounded like a conversation a bit away from camp, followed by movement, maybe a struggle, and the young man screaming - screaming for help, begging, even calling out Gladio's name specifically - which was a sure sign he was in real trouble - he knew he needed strong backup.

"Prompto!" Gladio ran up toward his friend, kneeling down and putting his hand on the younger man's back as soon as he found him. He seemed to be alone, didn't have any obvious injuries from this angle, but was on the ground, breathing hard, hiding his face in his hands...

He was crying. And not just tears of pain - but heartbroken, terrified, breathless sobs. Gladio had never seen the kid so upset. Ever. He seemed scared more than he was hurt, and didn't seem like he even wanted to look at Gladio judging by the fact that he flinched away from his touch and continued crying into his hands when the man reached for him.

"Hey, bud... What happened... Are you alr-" Gladio cut himself off with a frown and furrowed brows as Prompto brought a hand up and pushed the older man's arm back away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Prompto winced shakily, shrinking down further.

"Hey. It's me... Kid, it's Gladio... Alright? It's just me..." Gladio assured him, putting his hand lightly on Prompto's arm near his wrist. "Let me see you." He ordered when he was somewhat certain he saw blood on the boy's hands between his fingers.

"No!" Prompto sobbed, curling in on himself even more as he turned away from Gladio. "Please leave me alone!"

"Prompto!" Gladio growled, making his voice a lot more serious this time. He didn't have much patience for this kind of thing. He just wanted to make sure the kid was alright. If Prompto was mad at him for some reason, he was just going to have to get over it. "Let me see." He demanded. "Now."

Prompto was visibility shaking as he shrunk down even further, but didn't say anything more. Hopefully he realized by now that Gladio was serious - that he needed to see if he was injured so they could tend to the injuries, and deal with the cause of them.

"What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Gladio asked, keeping his voice stern and serious so Prompto wouldn't recoil again. "You gotta let me see. We're traveling as a group for a damn reason - so we can take care of each other. Let me see." Gladio ordered, reaching toward Prompto's arm in an effort to move his hand away from his face so he could see him better.

Prompto whimpered softly as he let Gladio pull his hands down away from his face. His nose was bleeding. He had tear streaks down his cheeks and more tears reddening his eyes. He had a scrape on his cheek - dirt there too, but it was running down his face with the rain. He looked like a little kid who had just been beaten up by bullies - even his tears and the fact that he was visibly shaking reminded Gladio of that...

Gladio grimaced as he put three of his fingers on Prompto's jaw, tilting the younger man's face up so he could see it better. Somebody had hit him - hard. That, or he fell down equally hard. But Prompto fell down a lot. The kid was clumsy, and he never sobbed like this after tripping down a hill or falling off of a rock. He wasn't just hurt - he was scared. If Gladio had to guess, he'd assume whoever or whatever did this to him was probably still in the area, probably still a threat, and Prompto knew it and was frightened by it.

Prompto didn't even say anything as Gladio looked him over. He didn't ask if Gladio thought his nose was broken, didn't ask if he looked horrible (which he kind of did...) He didn't say a thing. Instead, he simply stared back, eyes wide, lip trembling. He looked positively terrified. Maybe he was scared Gladio was going to accidentally hurt him worse by examining the injury. That would make a bit of sense. Prompto did get injured here and there due to his own missteps and recklessness, and he often did panic when it happened. The more blood, the bigger the bruise - the more likely Prompto would refuse to let anyone try to help him.

"You'll be aright, kid. I'm just looking. I won't hurt you. I promise." Gladio assured him.

Prompto sniffed and shrunk down more, but still said nothing. He looked so scared, so confused, almost like he was seeing Gladio as a stranger, someone he didn't know if he could trust.

"You don't need to be scared, Prompto. You're okay. I don't think it's broken... Just bleeding a lot... Did somebody hit you?" Gladio frowned. There was only one person it could have been - the other person suspiciously missing from their sleeping quarters.

"Gladio?" Prompto finally whispered, almost as though unsure who was squatting in front of him right now.

"Yeah..." Gladio frowned. "Prompto... It's me. Can you see okay?" He knelt down closer to better see the boy's eyes. He was acting so confused. Maybe he had a concussion...

Prompto gasped softly and shrunk back.

"You can see me, right? And hear me? It's Gladio... Your friend?" Gladio frowned.

"Yeah... I see you..." Prompto whispered.

"Did you hit your head?" Gladio furrowed his brow as he reached a hand toward the back of his friend's head to check for bleeding or bumps.

Prompto shook his head and shrunk back again, pushing Gladio's hand away and staring up at him nervously, almost like he expected Gladio to be angry with him for refusing the gesture. Gladio was kind of annoyed by it, but Prompto looked so damn scared, so he backed off for the moment. It wasn't like he could undo a concussion if the boy had one anyway.

"Prompto... what happened? Did Ardyn do this?" Gladio asked. He knew they shouldn't have trusted the man, but why would Ardyn take Prompto away from camp just to beat him up? Why Prompto? Why risk making four enemies just to beat up a random kid he had no prior history with? Prompto wasn't royalty - wasn't important to the world, wasn't well-known... The boy sure as hell hadn't ever done anything to Ardyn. He was as innocent as a twenty year old man possibly could be. What was Ardyn's issue with him?

Prompto shook his head, still timidly shrinking down away from Gladio. "I don't know..." He whispered, looking off to the side, into the darkness, then back at Gladio with wide, uncertain eyes. The boy bit his trembling lower lip and blinked as more tears started flowing down his cheeks. "I don't know what happened... I d- I don't understand what happened..." He whispered, shrinking down as though afraid to even look at Gladio for too long.

"Damn it, come on now... You know what happened to you... Just tell me." Gladio stared, wondering why the kid looked like he'd just seen a ghost as he stared up at his friend. Did he think Gladio was going to be angry over whatever this was? Did he do something dumb and end up getting hurt? "I'm sure it's not your fault... I won't be mad... Even if it is your fault, I won't be mad, okay? You can tell me... Whatever it is..." Gladio promised.

Prompto shrugged and shook his head, still shrinking back away from the older man. "I don't know... I'm not sure... Gladio... I don't-" He cut himself off, staring with wide, tear-filled eyes up at his friend. He looked so scared, so nervous. If Gladio didn't know any better, he'd think his young friend was scared of him even. He kept staring at Gladio like the older man was a literal monster.

"Prompto... come on... What happened? Did he come up on you from behind? You didn't see him? It was a person, right? Not a monster?" Gladio asked. "Did Ardyn do this to you? If he threatened you, you can tell me anyway. We won't let him get near you again. None of us trusted him in the first place. We'll just tell him to buzz off if he tries to get involved again... Was it him?"

Prompto simply stared, his mouth hanging open slightly as he shrugged.

"Well, was it Ardyn or not? Was it someone else?" Gladio growled, feeling himself growing more impatient with each passing second. "You can't keep this to yourself. It could affect everyone. If that man attacked you, we all need to know so we can watch out for him. If it was someone else, we need to know who. We can't just have people beating us up in the woods without consequence. Tell me who it was, and I'll take care of it."

Prompto shook his head. "I don't know... He... maybe... I don't know..." He whispered.

Gladio frowned, glaring down at his young companion, who looked back up at him as though completely terrified, and not just of his situation, but perhaps of Gladio... He was leaning away slightly, still shaking... He looked quite on-edge, like he was thinking about fleeing the conversation entirely. He honestly looked like he thought Gladio was going to beat the hell out of him - like he screwed up and he knew it and expected Gladiolus to be completely pissed off about it.

Maybe it was because Gladio was feeling increasingly frustrated with his young friend's lack of answers. Maybe Prompto could see in Gladio's eyes that he was irritated with the situation. Sometimes hiding his annoyance and anger didn't come easy. Perhaps Prompto noticed Gladio was getting tired of waiting for an explanation and he was worried about being yelled at by the older man... Gladio could say one thing for sure though - the longer the kid waited to explain, the more impatient Gladio was going to get. He probably would end up yelling if Prompto didn't answer his questions pretty soon.

"What do you mean, you don't know? What happened, kid? Wh-" Gladio trailed off with a confused shrug, trying to be patient, but feeling irritation rising inside him. "Are you hurt? Can you tell me that at least? I mean, beyond the obvious." He nodded toward the bleeding nose and scuffed up cheek.

Blinking, Prompto looked over Gladio's shoulder again, staring into the darkness as though expecting someone else to show up behind him. He looked back into Gladio's eyes, narrowing his own and staring. "Is it really you? It's not a trick? It's actually you?" He whispered, still shrinking down.

"Yes! Yeah, it's me!" Gladio growled, starting to feel legitimately frustrated by the lack of answers, Prompto's lack of attention being paid to the situation, and the kid's weird as hell input. "Prompto! Focus!" He demanded, grabbing Prompto's upper arms and shaking him slightly. "What happened? Are you alright? Was it Ardyn? Is he still in the area? Was it someone or something else? I gotta know if this is something we need to guard against. Do we need to get back and tell the others? You gotta talk, kid."

Prompto visibly flinched as he tugged weakly at his arms. Maybe Gladio was being harsh here, but he needed to know what happened. He needed to know if he should wake up the others and prepare for a fight. If Ardyn attacked Prompto, they'd all need to deal with him... If it was a monster or daemon, they'd need to deal with that too. They didn't have time to be scared or confused. They needed to sort this out before it became a potentially even bigger problem.

Maybe Prompto was scared, even traumatized right now, but he had to answer Gladio's questions. He had to keep the group informed of any dangers that were lurking nearby. They couldn't afford to wait on the kid's nerves to settle.

"Are you even listening to me? I need to know what's going on. Now." Gladio growled, perhaps squeezing his grip around Prompto's arms a little tighter than necessary, but hopefully enough to let the boy know he was serious.

"Get off of me!" Prompto suddenly screamed, a lot more frantically than seemed necessary. It took half a second before the kid was actually thrashing under the larger man's grip, behaving like a trapped animal, frantic and fighting for its life. "Let go! Get off of me!" He screamed with such terrified urgency that it actually made Gladio want to let go... but he couldn't at this point without risking his friend falling back and hurting himself.

"Prompto! Stop!" Gladio raised his voice. "Hold still! Stop it!"

"No!" Prompto sobbed, kicking out and pressing his back against the stone wall as he stared up at Gladio with huge, fearful eyes. His breaths were so quick Gladio was starting to worry he was going to hyperventilate to the point of passing out. The younger man pressed his hands against Gladio's chest, trying to push him back as his voice trembled. "Please let me go!"

Before Gladio even had a moment to try to de-escalate the situation, Prompto had balled his hand into a fist and punched Gladio right across his jaw.

Gladio let out a small inadvertent growl as he reached toward Prompto's arms, trying to get a grip and hold them down so the kid would stop lashing out at him. "Damn it, Prompto... Hold still. Stop it!" He demanded, his voice increasingly harsh. "Stop it!" He demanded again when the boy continued struggling. He allowed his voice to betray his frustration. It was low, serious, even threatening. "Stop fucking hitting me, Prompto! Hold still. Now!"

"Get off of me!" Prompto screamed, sobbing shakily when Gladio grabbed at his wrists and pinned both of his arms against the boy's chest. The younger man promptly squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk down, crying breathlessly.

"Stop it." Gladio growled again, holding Prompto's arms down against the boy's shaking chest. "Stop fighting me."

"I'm sorry, Gladio... I'm sorry..." Prompto whimpered, pulling at his arms and letting out a small whimper when he was unable to free himself. "Please don't hit me back! I didn't hit you that hard! Y-you can't use your full strength to hit me back. It's not fair! I can't hit that hard! Don't hit me, Gladio! I'm sorry..."

Gladio shook his head as he stared down at his friend with wide, concerned eyes. He could feel the kid physically shaking. Whatever had happened had the boy completely on-edge. It was like he wasn't even hearing the things Gladio was saying to him. He was even seemingly scared of Gladio for some reason. No matter how much Gladio reassured him that he just wanted answers, the kid seemed to expect the older man to hurt him.

"Calm the hell down, Prompto." He urged, letting the boy distance himself a bit, but still not letting go of his arms. If he let go now, Prompto was going to fall back and hit his head against the stone - or punch Gladio again. "I'm not gonna do anything to you. I won't hit you, Prompto... You know that. Stop freaking out!"

"Gladio, please! Please don't hurt me! Please let me go!" Prompto stopped struggling and let himself sink down as much as Gladio's grip allowed, choking out a defeated whimper. "Gladio, whoever you are... I don't want to do this... I just wanna go back to camp and go to sleep. We don't ever have to talk about it again. I won't say anything. Things'll still be how they always were... Just let me go!" Prompto sobbed, trying to cover his face with his hands again while Gladio still gripped his arms.

Frowning and loosening his grip, Gladio stared down at his young friend. Prompto seemed so scared, but also so defeated... Like he honestly thought Gladio was going to attack him - but that he was also prepared to give in and stop physically fighting. He seemed confused too - strangely so, accusing Gladio more than once of not being himself, seeming unsure of who was right in front of him, actively talking to him.

"Prompto... What are you talking about?" Gladio finally managed to force his voice to be more calm as he furrowed his brow and stared down at his trembling friend. "I'm not gonna hurt you. What do you think I'm going to do? Who do you think I am? It's me... Kid... it's Gladio. Who the hell else would I be? It's me..."

"No it's not..." Prompto choked, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're not... or you are, and that's worse... I'm scared..."

"Listen, Prompto... Look at me..." Gladio insisted, trying to be patient even though he couldn't understand what the hell Prompto was thinking right now. "It's me here with you. Not anybody else. Me. Your friend... Gladio... Whatever happened, you're alright now. Whoever or whatever it is is gone... It's just me and you here. You're safe. I can only promise you it's me, and that I won't let anything happen to you. Take a breath and calm down."

Shaking his head and looking up with tears in his eyes, still cowering down slightly, Prompto shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know... I d-don't understand what j-just happened... It's really you? A-and you just got here?"

"Yeah." Gladio stared.

"I don't think it was you before... It's you now... I just... I don't... I'm so confused..." Prompto stammered, his voice breathless and shaky. "It was you... then it wasn't... I d- I don't know... It looked just like you, but it wasn't, I don't think... This is you... For real. The other one wasn't." He whispered. "I don't know what to believe anymore..."

"Just tell me what happened... Even if it doesn't make sense. Just tell me..." Gladio urged, looking Prompto up and down, finally taking in his appearance more fully. The scrape on his cheek and his nose were still bleeding. He was still breathing hard, had clearly been crying quite a bit. Gladio's blood ran cold when he noticed Prompto's pants were unbuttoned and partially pulled down too...

He really hoped it wasn't what it looked like. Maybe Prompto just wandered off to pee away from camp and was ambushed by a monster... Maybe that's all it was... But his behavior definitely indicated otherwise. That didn't explain why he seemed to think Gladio was going to hurt him either. Unless the monster poisoned him with something that was muddling his mind, confusing him.

Gladio backed off a bit, frowning as he looked down at his friend. "I promise you're safe with me. I don't know why you're doubting me, why you think I'm going to hurt you... but it might help if you explain. I can't help if I don't know what the hell's going on. I promise I won't hurt you, in any way. Never, ever. I thought you knew that..."

Inhaling a shaking breath, Prompto swallowed and nodded. "I know... I just... What happened - it was so confusing... You wouldn't hurt me. I know that. S-sorry for freaking out... I guess it really is you now, and it wasn't before... I'll tell you what happened, but... Just hear me out... It's weird..." He requested, offering a nervous laugh.

Gladio nodded, indicating he'd keep an open mind.

"A-and... D-don't make fun of me..." Prompto whispered, looking down. "Please don't make fun of me..."

Gladio frowned. "Of course I won't..."

xxxxxx


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

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Prompto still kept his eyes down as he started to tell his story in a quiet, somewhat shaky and out of breath voice. "It was maybe like ten or twenty minutes ago... You woke me up... b-but I don't think it was really you... It couldn't have been. You wouldn't..." He trailed off, swallowing nervously again. It looked like swallowing was painful to him. Now that Gladio was looking harder, he thought he may have noticed the start of a bruise over the young man's throat. Maybe Ardyn - or whoever did this to him - had choked him.

"I definitely didn't wake you up, kid... It wasn't me." Gladio whispered, his voice low, almost shaky as he feared hearing the rest of this tale. He couldn't understand how the hell Prompto could have gotten this wrong - how he'd think it was Gladio waking him up, attacking him... when it certainly wasn't, but he promised he'd hear the story out, so he didn't ask too many questions for now.

Prompto nodded, tears shining in his eyes again. "I really thought it was you - and I was confused... and scared... and I felt really betrayed... B-but it wasn't you... I don't know how he did it, but it looked and sounded just like you. I mean, you were standing close - or he was. It looked exactly like you, Sounded like you... But wasn't acting like you. I thought you lost your freakin' mind, man... Like, m-maybe you were joking, but like a really bad joke... I told you - or him... over and over, to stop, that you were hurting me, that it wasn't funny and I wanted to go back..." Prompto shook his head.

"You told me to stop what? What'd I do? Or he... What did this person do? What exactly..." Gladio stumbled over his words, feeling more and more uneasy about this with each new word out of his friend's mouth. Prompto had been so scared of him a few minutes ago... Whoever had somehow tricked the kid into thinking he was Gladio had to have done something pretty awful to make Prompto so frantic, to make him feel he had to punch and kick and scream to defend himself from Gladio again just now. Prompto should have known Gladio would never hurt him, but whatever he'd just experienced clearly had him doubting that.

With another forced laugh, Prompto shook his head. "I guess I feel kinda stupid now... I was talking to him like he was you, appealing to that so he'd let me go... b-because I thought it was you, and that you'd care if you knew you were hurting me, and that I didn't like what was happening. I knew you wouldn't want to scare me and hurt me... So I told you I was scared, that you were being a bully... I just thought... that would be the way out - to just be honest, because I knew you weren't like that. It wasn't you... I should have just known that - even though it looked like you, I should have known..."

"Kid... If it looked and sounded like me... how could you have known? It's not your fault..." Gladio frowned, still honestly feeling sickened by the fact that Prompto believed he would really hurt him. Gladio absolutely would never.

"But he was so rough, so cruel..." Prompto stuck his lip out in a pout. "You aren't like that, and I know that. And just now... I was still scared of you. I'm just confused..." He whispered. "I don't understand how he made himself look and sound exactly like you... or why... Why would he do that just to trick me and hurt me? I don't even know him. He doesn't know me... Why did he want to do this?" Prompto looked up with wide, tear-brimmed eyes.

"Did he hurt you? Besides what I can see already... Are you alright?" Gladio asked.

Prompto inhaled a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled. "I knew you'd never do what he was trying to do... Obviously you wouldn't... I mean, I know you wouldn't... and he didn't... He didn't do it. I'm okay. He almost did it, but he... I mean, he didn't get that far... He didn't do... w-what he was like trying to do... He didn't... I guess you scared him off... Gladio... " Prompto stared up with huge eyes. He looked scared.

Gladio nodded, not wanting to interrupt, but at the same time sort of wanting to demand a more thorough answer. What exactly happened? Was Prompto hurt beyond scrapes and bruises? Was Gladio going to have to find Ardyn and beat the shit out him personally? It seemed like yes...

"It was so weird... I heard your voice yelling in the woods, but you were right there pushing me against the wall at the same time - like you were here and there at the same exact second. It was you - looked just like you, your voice and everything, but then I swear I saw Ardyn at the end, and before that, your eyes looked wrong..." The younger man narrowed his eyes, staring up at Gladio. "They look like yours again now... It's you now..." A small, trembling-lipped smile tugged at the boy's mouth as he finally moved toward Gladio and grabbed him in a hug.

"Yeah..." Gladio felt his voice stick in his throat as he carefully hugged his friend back. "It's me now... Whatever he did... It wasn't me. I wouldn't hurt you, kid, ever..." He promised.

Gladiolus really wanted a more concrete explanation though. Prompto's answer was so rambling and disjointed. Gladio still wasn't sure what happened. It seemed like the boy had been spared the worst of Gladiolus's fears, but it was still not quite clear what did happen. Maybe it wasn't right for Gladio to keep asking. Maybe it wasn't his place to demand knowledge of an experience that was so personal and traumatic. Maybe he wasn't owed a detailed answer...

Prompto's grip around him increased as the boy inhaled a shaky breath, followed by a tiny, choked sob. "I couldn't believe it was you... but it just-" He cut himself off with another trembling sob, clinging even tighter to Gladio, practically clawing at his back as though trying to pull himself closer to the older man than physically possible.

Gladio froze, feeling a little unsure of what to do from here. For so long just now, Prompto was scared to even let the man touch his arm. Now he wanted a full hug... and he was sobbing breathlessly, clinging to Gladio like the man was the only thing he had in the whole world.

"You're okay..." Gladio assured him, hugging the kid back firmly but carefully, resting his hand on the back of Prompto's head and holding him close. It made his blood boil to think of Ardyn taking advantage of the boy's trust in Gladio like this. Prompto didn't deserve this. "You're alright... It wasn't me before... I'm here now. I'll keep you safe." Gladio promised.

Prompto shook his head, still sniffing shaking sobs. "He grabbed me so hard, and I thought it was you... He put his arm against my throat and I couldn't breathe... I didn't kn-know what to do... He was so strong, and I know you're strong. I knew you could really hurt me if you wanted to... a-and I guess for a minute I did think you wanted to. I didn't know why, but it seemed like you wanted to... I was still fooled. I thought it was you. I thought you were hurting me and I couldn't understand why you'd do that..." He rambled between shaking cries. "I thought I made you mad somehow."

"Oh, Prompto... I'm so sorry he did this... You know I'd never hurt you..." Gladio felt tears tightening his throat. The thought of Prompto honestly thinking Gladio was hurting him broke his heart. The poor kid must have felt so betrayed.

"I know... That's why I was so confused... And almost frozen... I- I didn't know what to do, because I couldn't make sense of it... It was you, Gladio. It looked like you. You were inches from me, and it was you... Grabbing me, pushing me back, holding me there, not letting me leave even when I told you to stop... I thought it was a joke, and I told you it wasn't funny and to stop, and you wouldn't... I mean, not you... but... I guess Ardyn... looking like you, forcing me to kiss him - as you and grabbing... P-pulling at my pants..." Prompto's lower lip trembled. He shook his head and looked back down.

"Prompto..." Gladio whispered, unsure really of what to say.

Prompto shook his head slightly. "He didn't do it... I'm pretty sure he was going to, but you were getting closer and he stopped. He didn't want you to find us... But he was going to do it, I'm pretty sure. He had me pushed up against the wall, Gladio..." Prompto paused for a moment, exhaling shakily and closing his eyes. "And I kept trying to stop him from pulling down my pants. I was holding onto them... But he grabbed my arms - both in one hand - and I couldn't stop him. He started pulling them down, and I felt so exhausted and defeated. I couldn't do anything. I was so scared. I couldn't do anything, Gladio. I couldn't stop him. I wasn't going to be able to do anything to make him stop. If you hadn't found me when you did..." He trailed off.

"Damn, Prompto..." Gladio exhaled. He didn't have the proper words for this. Gladio wasn't big on saying the right thing at the right time, offering emotional support. But he had to try. He did love and care about Prompto so much and wanted the younger man to know he had Gladio's support. "Are you okay?" He asked simply.

Prompto nodded slightly. "I think so... I was screaming for you to find me... and you were screaming back. Ardyn got scared and left before he actually did it... So I guess it's fine... I'm alright."

Gladio exhaled and hugged Prompto closer, resting his own cheek against the top of Prompto's head. The boy's ordinarily soft hair was wet and weighed down by the light rain soaking it. "We're staying the hell away from that guy. He's not coming near you again. If I see him, I'll kick his ass. I don't know what his damn problem is-"

"What if he makes himself look like one of us again?" Prompto whispered. "I don't think I'm an idiot, Gladio... I wouldn't follow that random dude we don't even know out into the rainy dark woods... I wasn't just being dumb. It wasn't like he put on some cheap disguise and I fell for it like a moron in a cartoon. He looked exactly like you... The face, the hair, the tattoos, the clothing... Your voice. Everything. It was you in front of me. I wouldn't have followed him out here otherwise. If he can do that, he can probably look like any one of us. How will we ever know if he's one of us? This is a big problem..."

Gladio closed his eyes and exhaled. Prompto was right. If Ardyn could make himself look and sound exactly like Gladio somehow, it was going to be hard to know if he was among them. Maybe he could make himself look like anyone. That was one hell of a trick. "Well... I guess just don't trust any of us if we ask anything weird as hell like that.. There's no reason we need to be sneaking off at night in pairs... We'll stick to the group as much as we can. He can't make himself look like three people all at once, so we'll just all stay close and it won't be as risky."

"But I trust you, Gladio." Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he pulled back out of their embrace. "I trust Noct and Iggy... If either of them asked me to do anything, I wouldn't think twice... because it's you. It's them... I just... I don't want to have to second-guess everything everyone ever says... I don't want to be scared to trust you guys... And what do we tell them? Because Ardyn could try to trick any one of us... I- I don't want to tell anyone else what happened... but they need to know to be careful."

Gladio frowned. "This isn't your fault. You can tell them. They won't judge you..."

Prompto shook his head and forced a small laugh. "Not out loud... I know they'd be supportive and they wouldn't be mean about it... But inside, they'll see what you're seeing." He forced another laugh and gestured at himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Gladio glared, sort of feeling angry with Prompto for being so hard on himself.

"Just..." The younger man shook his head. "This wouldn't have happened to anyone else... Of course I'm the idiot who followed him out here like a puppy. Of course I'm the one who couldn't fight back and take care of myself. It wasn't even difficult for him, Gladio... I finally hit him, just one time, and he hit me back so hard I could barely breathe... That's why my nose is bleeding like a fountain. Because I hit him one damn time and he hit me back like he was trying to kill me. I think I almost passed out, Gladio. From one punch. I'm so weak... He barely even had to try."

Gladio felt his shoulders slump. "You're not weak. He took advantage of trust you have in your friends. He had to lie to you to get you to go wit him. He's stronger than you... That's not your fault... You think they'll think less of you because you're not stronger than a guy who's half a foot taller than you? Who's got more muscle? Nobody's gonna blame you or think any less of you. And it could have happened to someone else. It could have been any of us. If one of you told me to come with you out into the woods, I'd have trusted it."

Prompto exhaled and closed his eyes. "I just don't want to talk about it again. I know it's not my fault... but I don't want more people to know. He made me kiss him, Gladio... He pushed me against the wall and tried to stick his tongue down my throat... and started shoving his hand down my pants, trying to take 'em off... I c- I can't tell them that... I can't have even more people than you know that happened... It's embarrassing... It's awkward... and just... I don't want them to know..."

Gladio blinked, watching his young friend staring wide eyed back, getting himself worked up all over again at the thought of this incident being communicated beyond this one fixed point in the woods.

"Please don't make me tell them. It was so awful..." Prompto whimpered.

"I could tell them-" Gladio started.

"No!" Prompto's eyes widened as he reached out and grabbed at Gladio's arms. "They can't know... It's so embarrassing... Don't tell them, Gladio... Please... I just wanna forget it all..."

"Okay..." Gladio breathed. "Calm down. I won't say anything if you don't want me to."

"But they need to know to be careful... Ardyn could use the same trick on one of them." Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "I don't know what to do, Gladio..." His voice shook.

"Kid, why don't we just tell 'em a vague version then - say he made himself look like me, told you to come with him - you thought nothing of it, because it was me... Then he punched you, tried to kill you... We'll make sure everyone knows to be cautious, that he's dangerous, but they don't have to know any sensitive details." He suggested.

Prompto looked down, but nodded. "Will you tell them that? So I don't have to?" He whispered.

Gladio nodded. "Of course... I'll keep it vague."

Prompto smiled slightly. "Thanks... And I guess we can come up with a code word - anybody acting weird's gotta give the code word to prove they're not that creepy bastard in disguise..."

Gladio felt a small smile tugging at his lips. He felt more at ease noticing Prompto seemed to be getting a little back to his usual self. Though the problem was still huge, definitely something to stay alert and concerned about, Prompto was going to be okay. This hopefully wasn't going to be a trauma that changed him as a person. He was alright.

Prompto leaned up close to Gladio's ear. "Just in case he's out there listening... Code word's 'chocobo.'" He whispered.

Gladio smirked and nodded. "Got it."

Prompto pulled back, shrugging slightly and offering a slightly breathless laugh. "I mean, what else would I choose, right?" His voice shook slightly still, and Gladio realized now that he was shivering. He didn't seem so upset about the situation at this point, but he was definitely trembling enough that his teeth were practically chattering.

"Let's get back to camp before you freeze to death." Gladio suggested with a frown, reaching out toward his young friend's arms and pulling him up to a standing position. For now, he didn't acknowledge the fact that Prompto flinched, let out a soft breath, and tensed as he reached for him. Maybe this issue would take a little longer for Prompto to bounce back from than it seemed.

He could certainly understand why the younger man would be jumpy around him after what had just happened... but hopefully his nerves would settle soon and things wouldn't be awkward forever.

"Here... You're shaking..." Gladio shrugged out of his own jacket, draping it over the boy's shoulders as Prompto fixed his pants and belt. The jacket was of course a bit damp from the rain, but better than nothing.

"Yeah..." Prompto laughed, shrugging under the jacket. "Forgot how cold I was... Got all wrapped up in full-panic mode. Thanks, Gladio."

"No problem, kiddo. Let's get back." Gladio wrapped his arm around his younger friend's shoulders, pulling him close as they started back toward camp.

Gladio inwardly cringed when Prompto tensed under his arm again, but the younger man didn't say anything, and relaxed again after a second of walking. He probably hadn't even meant to tense up. Maybe his instincts were causing him to over-react physically while his mind begged him to calm down. Gladio decided he'd keep acting normal himself unless given further reason not to. He guessed Prompto probably didn't want Gladio to keep his distance and act like he was scared to get too close. He probably wanted his friend to just act like he normally would. Gladio hoped so at least.

"Uh... Gladio... I just wanna... you know... I mean, thanks for coming out here... for finding me..." Prompto spoke in a small voice as they walked. He sounded somewhat out of breath, like he was extremely nervous. "We got a little while away from camp and it was kinda stormy and I thought maybe no one would hear me... B-but I didn't even call out at first, because I was so confused... Anyway... Thanks. I don't know if he would'a kept going otherwise... I mean... Yeah... He probably, like definitely would have. And just, thanks for looking for me."

"Of course." Gladio nodded. "I'm glad I got here when I did... Glad I stopped him... Gotta watch out for everybody. I noticed you weren't in bed when I woke up... I got worried."

"You did?" Prompto laughed breathlessly again, narrowing his eyes as he looked up at the older man. "You were worried? Like... Seriously? About me?"

Gladio nodded. "I worry about you all the time, bud... You're like my little brother... Kid, I watch your back more than you'd ever know if I weren't telling you about it here and now..."

And it was true... Noctis was obviously the main focus on this quest, but Gladio looked out for everybody - they all did... Maybe Prompto didn't realize it, but he was definitely a well-watched member of their group. Ignis was always looking out for him too. He was the youngest, the smallest, the least experienced of the group. He was jumpy, sometimes reckless...

"Well, thanks, Gladio." Prompto looked back forward, seemingly no longer wanting to make eye-contact with his friend. His voice even trembled ever so slightly.

Gladio leaned a bit forward to steal a quick look at his young friend's face. Prompto was smiling slightly, but his lip trembled a bit and he looked ready to cry. "You okay?" Gladio frowned. Maybe he needed more space after all. "You want me to back off?" Gladio grimaced, slowly starting to lift his arm up away from Prompto's shoulders.

"No... You can stay... I know it's really you here now. I'm okay." Prompto nodded. "Just feels good to have people care about you, you know?" He laughed, blinking back his unshed tears.

Gladio felt a surge of sadness stab at his heart. "Kid, I hope you've never doubted that... We all care about you so damn much..."

"Thanks, Gladio..." Prompto whispered. "It's not that I doubt it, really... I mean, maybe sometimes... I just... I dunno... always worry that maybe I'm being annoying... Talking so much, rushing into things... Sometimes I'm maybe not as brave as the rest of you, don't have all the training, might need to have people watch my back more than they should, like I'm not a good fighter... I just talk so much and ramble, and just wonder if everyone's constantly annoyed by it... I can be annoying, Gladio. You know that?"

"Only always, kid, but that's why we love you." Gladio laughed, pulling Prompto closer to his side and running his hand up and down the smaller man's arm, trying to warm him up faster. "What on earth would we all talk about all day if you weren't there to facilitate hours of annoying rants about chocobos, video games, and soup?"

Prompto let out a burst of laughter. "I got a lot of opinions..." He shrugged.

"I know." Gladio smiled, hugging his arm firmly around Prompto's shoulders, feeling honestly very lucky at this point to be able to do so - to continue to joke with him, to know he was safe, soon to be warm and content... and hopefully woul dbe fully back to his usual talkative, goofy self in no time.

xxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A version of this chapter was originally the last, but I couldn't let it rest, so I altered it a bit and added a lot more... I hardly added anything to lead it toward sounding more like a bridge than an ending... So if it seems almost like a conclusion that's because it was the conclusion at first... Now it's not. We're going to deal with the trauma Ardyn caused...


	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

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With a yawn and a small stretch, Ignis sat up in bed. Something didn't feel right. It was the middle of the night still, quiet, dark... The steadily falling rain that started as everyone was falling asleep seemed to have let up...

Blinking, he looked around the space inside the caravan. Noctis breathed peacefully across the way in one of the beds, but the spaces Prompto, Gladiolus, an Ardyn had formerly occupied were empty.

With a frown, Ignis stood up out of bed and walked up to the camper's window, peering out into the darkness. He sure hoped he didn't have to go look for them.

None of the four had trusted this new man, Ardyn. It was a conversation going among them on more than one occasion. So naturally it was troubling to allow the man to stay with them overnight, wake up, and find both him and two of their own to be missing. There was no good reason for all three of them to have left together, especially not without telling Ignis and Noctis... And if they didn't leave together, they left separately, and there was no reasonable explanation for that either.

Inhaling a frustrated, yet calming breath, Ignis made his way toward the door, opening it slowly and quietly so as to not wake Noctis, and stepping outside. Just as soon as his feet hit the ground, he was pleasantly surprised to see two figures emerging in the darkness - one very tall and broad, and one smaller and slim. Gladio and Prompto.

Ignis smiled, not really caring so much that Ardyn was still misplaced. He was just glad to see the two he cared about had returned. They were still a bit too far for him to see them well or hear what they were talking about, but they seemed to be okay. Gladio's arm was slung over Prompto's shoulders and the younger man had just let out a laugh.

"Where have you two been?" Ignis called out as he started toward them. "You do realize it's the middle of the night? Did our new friend Ardyn accompany you on your leisurely stroll? Or has he chosen to depart from us so s-" Ignis cut himself off with a small gasp as he neared the two and noticed Prompto looked pretty rough. He had partially dried blood running down from his nose, over his chin and down the front of his shirt, and a visible scuff or bruise on his cheek.

"Prompto, what on Earth happened to you?!" Ignis questioned rushing up to his two friends as Prompto's eyes widened and he sort of hid behind Gladio. The kid had been laughing as they walked up, acting like he felt fine and was just having a normal walk and chat with his friend. Ignis could have sworn Gladio was smiling too. They walked up like everything was fine, but Prompto looked like someone punched him - and hard too, maybe more than once.

Prompto stared with wide eyes, shaking his head and cowering back behind Gladio as Ignis approached. He looked so young in that moment, so nervous, like a child caught doing something wrong, scared to fess up and face consequences. He didn't seem to want to talk, but fortunately Gladio was willing.

"Hold up, Iggy. He's okay." Gladio spoke, his tone much more serious and calm than usual as he allowed the younger man to hide himself behind him. "Everyone's okay, but there was an incident... I uh... We can talk, but I think Noct needs to be here to hear it too. Is he up?"

Ignis shook his head no, still wanting to question Prompto, but willing to wait for answers if need be. The boy was clearly anxious about communicating whatever had happened to his friend. Ignis could give him a bit of space, for now.

"I'll go get Noct." Gladio offered.

Ignis nodded as Gladio walked on and Prompto remained standing awkwardly in front of him, looking down at the ground as though expecting that Ignis was going to yell at him. It really made the older man wonder what on earth happened, but Prompto clearly didn't want to explain right now.

"Let's see if we can't get you cleaned up a bit, Prompto." Ignis offered, trying to keep his voice and gestures calm. Prompto needed calm right now, as he was clearly on-edge himself. "Alright?" Ignis nodded, reaching cautiously out toward Prompto and hoping the kid would meet him halfway.

Swallowing nervously, Prompto nodded and let Ignis lead him over to the chairs near the caravan. Ignis sat him down in one and squatted in front of him, taking a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and clearing away some of the blood and dirt from the boy's face. He noticed now that he was closer and in better light that Prompto had dried tear streaks down his cheeks as well. Whatever had happened must have been rough - both physically and emotionally. The poor boy looked positively traumatized.

"Are you okay?" Ignis spoke in a low voice, accepting that Prompto might not tell him what happened, but at the very least wanting to make sure he wasn't significantly injured.

"Yeah. I think so." Prompto whispered, forcing a small smile, but he did have the start of fresh tears shining in his eyes. Whatever had happened had him still shaken, even though the blood was starting to dry and it seemed to have occurred ten or fifteen minutes ago at the very least.

Ignis was proud of Gladio for doing whatever he did to have the boy laughing and smiling again by the time they made their way back here, but that had clearly been a mask. Prompto was definitely not okay with whatever had occurred. His seemingly chipper mood upon returning with Gladio was a temporary shield. He true feelings had bubbled up as soon as Ignis saw him and questioned what had happened.

"Are you hurt beyond this?" Ignis nodded toward his bleeding nose and scraped cheek as he carefully cleared away the blood and dirt there. The rain water clinging to the younger man's skin helped quite a bit with that. "Any broken bones, you think? I'm not in the know on what happened... And you need not go into detail if you don't wish to... My priority now is simply to make sure you're okay."

Prompto shook his head and let out a small breath. "I think I'm fine..."

Ignis narrowed his eyes as he leaned somewhat closer, taking note that Prompto flinched back slightly and swallowed nervously as he did so. "You took a pretty hard hit, eh?" He noted as he observed the bruising forming around Prompto's nose.

The younger man stuck his lower lip out in a pout and shrunk down. "Is my nose broken?" He whispered, reaching up with a shaking hand and placing his own fingertips next to his nose. He winced softly and drew his hand back. "Gladio said he didn't think it was... Do I look horrible?"

Ignis forced a small smile and shook his head. "You don't look horrible. It's not broken. A little bruising is all... a lot of blood, but it's mostly dry. It's not bleeding anymore at this point, I don't think... Can you tell me what happened? A short version if you prefer?" He inquired.

Prompto stared with wide eyes and shook his head nervously. "Gladio'll tell both of you together... S-so we just have to say it once..." He whispered.

"Very well... You're indeed soaked though." Ignis noted, realizing now that Prompto was wearing Gladio's jacket, but the garment was damp as well. "And you're shivering. Do you want to go inside?"

Prompto stared past Ignis's shoulder, toward the darkness of the woods, then nodded.

"Very good. You and Gladio should get changed before we discuss this..." Ignis advised, helping Prompto stand and holding a hand over his back as he led the boy up the caravan steps.

"What happened? Is Prompto okay? Prompto!" Noctis greeted them with a worried series of questions as soon as they'd entered, placing his hand on the younger man's arm and looking into his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Prompto winced and shrunk back slightly. "I'm okay, Noct... It looks worse than it is, probably... I-"

"Everything's fine. We'll talk about it together after these two change into some dry clothes." Ignis suggested. "It won't do to have half of us sick going forward."

Gladio exhaled an annoyed breath and rolled his eyes, clearly disagreeing with the importance of not lingering around in wet clothes, but going along with the order anyway, leading the way as he and Prompto made their way toward the back of the space.

"What happened?" Noctis whispered, leaning closer to Ignis.

"I haven't got the answers just yet." Ignis whispered back, glancing back toward where Prompto and Gladio were changing into dry garments, noticing what he was fairly certain were finger-shaped red marks, seemingly the start of bruises from someone's hands, around Prompto's arms, on his lower back. "He and Gladio just returned... Gladio said he wanted to discuss it among the four of us. That's all I know."

Ignis sat down patiently, waiting for his two friends to return as Noctis glared and crossed his arms in front of his chest, clearly feeling less patient at the moment. Ignis didn't blame him for feeling frustrated and worried. Something big seemed to have happened. Gladio's insistence that they all talk together, Prompto acting like a scared child... Ardyn still being gone... Whatever this was wasn't just a matter of a slip and fall in the woods or a small fight with a monster or daemon.

"Alright. You all ready? Prompto?" Gladio spoke as he and Prompto made their way up to sit down with the others.

Prompto nodded, sitting silently down next to Noctis and staring at the floor. Noctis didn't take his eyes off the smaller man, which was probably why Prompto was keeping his own eyes down. He clearly didn't appreciate the attention.

"We've got a problem, and as you might have guessed, it's Ardyn." Gladio started. "He has some kind of magic to him... I can't exactly explain how it works or what it's called, but he made himself look like me, and tricked Prompto into following him away from camp."

Noctis inhaled a small breath, leaning forward in an attempt to see Prompto's face as the blonde shrunk down even more, still staring intently at the ground.

"What was the purpose?" Ignis wondered. Prompto seemed a strange target for the man. One would think if he had sinister intentions toward the group, he'd have aimed to take out Noctis, or at the least the strongest, Gladiolus, to cripple the others. Unless this was a sort of test run, to see how much damage he could do - and of course he'd choose the most trusting, innocent person. The smallest. The one he knew it would be easiest to hurt. It certainly hurt the entire group in a different way. It hurt emotionally for them to have to see their friend suffer.

Prompto shook his head, but Gladio continued.

"He attacked Prompto. We don't know why exactly... I guess some people just delight in hurting others and that's all there is to it... Fortunately I had gotten up and was looking for them both... Heard the commotion, and scared him off." Gladio explained.

"Prom... Why'd he attack you?" Noctis whispered, clearly not willing to accept that the kid wanted Gladio to speak for him. Ignis couldn't necessarily disagree with the prince. Prompto knew what happened better than anyone, and whether nervous or not, his explanation would be the most useful, likely the most accurate. "Was he trying to kill you? What did he do? Did he say anything? Are you hurt?"

Prompto shook his head and shrugged, still refusing to look up. "I don't know." He whispered. "I'm okay now. It wasn't that big of a deal... It was just scary because I thought it was Gladio. He made himself look and sound like exactly the same as Gladio. I'm not exaggerating here. I thought it was him. He tricked me and got me pretty far from camp. I went with him like an idiot, because I thought he was Gladio... He kept looking like Gladio til the end. He hit me, tried to choke me... Maybe he was trying to kill me. I don't know what his problem was. It was scary, Noct. I- I still thought it was Gladio, and totally didn't understand why he was beating me up..." Prompto forced a small laugh. "The real Gladio heard and came to my rescue, so it's fine now."

"It's not fine." Noctis disagreed. "Where's Ardyn now? We have to do something about this."

Prompto shook his head. "He ran off."

Noctis shook his head as well, pouting and glaring at nothing in particular. "How dare he? What a coward..." The prince growled. "If he's got a problem with me, or with our group... He needs to take it up with me. He's not going to enjoy the next time we come across him. That's for damn sure."

Prompto stared wide-eyed at Noctis then, who was now the one looking down and avoiding eye contact. Prompto looked so nervous still, and of course he was. What he'd just described was terrifying, and opened the possibility of all sorts of nightmarish scenarios. Ardyn could potentially disguise himself as any of them... and how would they know?

"We'll keep a sharp watch. Stick together as much as possible." Gladio went on. "This is big deal. You're right, Noct... But we can handle it. We won't give him the chance to trick any of us again."

"That's easier said than done... You realize how often during the day you're alone? Or with just one of us? You don't think much about it because it's normal, but we don't all four follow each other everywhere." Noctis noted.

"Then what do you want us to do instead?" Gladio stared.

Noctis shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. That's why this is a big deal... There's a lot of ways this can go wrong... A lot of ways he can sneak in... Even if we do all stick together."

"We'll be careful." Gladio persisted.

"We were already being careful!" Noctis glared.

Prompto silently looked between the two as they continued to argue. He shrunk down slightly, looking like he wanted to disappear, but seemingly too nervous to step in and say anything.

"We can take every precaution and watch each other's backs just as we always have. Business as usual, but more-so." Ignis interjected. "There's no need for things to get heated between us right now. Perhaps that's what Ardyn's goal was in the first place - to drive a wedge between us. Let's not give him that."

Noctis closed his eyes and exhaled. "You're right." He agreed.

"We can deal with this. We have to." Gladio went on. "The important thing is that we're all okay. Ardyn didn't get to take things too far."

"Too far, like what?" Noctis frowned.

Gladio shrugged. "Just whatever else his plan was... I don't know. Prompto's not hurt significantly. He's alive..."

Ignis frowned as he watched Prompto, still glancing with wide eyes between Gladio and Noctis as they spoke, biting his lower lip and even seeming to almost grimace every time Gladio was the one talking, like he was nervous the man would say the wrong thing. Ignis felt like something from the story was missing. The boy seemed to be holding back. Even Gladio seemed like he was hiding something, not telling the whole story. There was something more they were both not telling him and Noctis. At least it seemed so.

Maybe it was just the fact that the man had impersonated Gladio that had Prompto so anxious. That had to have been jarring, to follow your friend out into the woods, probably chattering endlessly as he always did, guard completely down... and to then have said friend turn around and violently attack.

And the attack had been quite clearly violent. As Ignis sat still and quiet, observing and listening as his friends mostly discussed this without Ignis's input, he had some time to inspect Prompto from afar. The boy had quite a few bruises - and troubling ones that that. Finger-shaped marks lined his arms in many places, mostly his wrists. A bruise was forming on his cheek, and the other was scratched as though it had been pushed hard against a rough surface. This seemed more than just a quick attempt on his life. He'd been held down. Ardyn probably mocked and teased him during this, loving that Prompto thought it was his friend hurting him. Delighting in the fact that Prompto likely begged him to stop, questioned why it was happening.

"Well, what exactly did he do though?" Noctis glanced back toward Prompto, who looked down at the floor again as soon as Noct's eyes were on him. "Prompto... He took you out into the woods, then just turned and punched you and started choking you?" Noctis didn't look like he was fully convinced.

"Yeah, Noct." Prompto breathed, still staring at the ground. "What do you want, like an essay? He just punched me... knocked me down and then liked climbed on top of me and wrapped his hands around my neck... Started to squeeze. I screamed as best as I could and Gladio was looking for me. He yelled back. Ardyn got scared and left. It was really quick."

"So he was seriously just going to strangle you out in the woods? Then what?" Noctis frowned.

Prompto shrugged one shoulder and looked nervously toward Gladio.

"We don't know, Noct..." Gladio answered for the younger man. "And we won't find out. We're gonna make sure he doesn't get a chance to finish whatever it was he wanted the result to be."

Noctis shook his head. "I'm just so mad... I don't mean to be bitter toward you guys... Just... For him to take Prompto out there away from all of us, just to hurt him for no reason... I just can't understand why he'd do that. What'd Prompto ever do to him?"

"I know, right?" Prompto laughed nervously.

"We came up with a code word." Gladio spoke up again, changing the subejct. "If this guy can make himself look like any of us, we need a way to prove we're each who we say we are - so if you have any doubt, ask for the code word."

"What is it?" Noctis asked.

Gladio smiled. "Chocobo."

Noctis smirked as well. "Did Prompto come up with it?"

"Of course I did." Prompto let out a small laugh, leaning in as Noctis wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

Ignis smiled as well at the sound of his three friends' laughter. He was glad to see everyone was okay and seemingly ready to move on... but this problem wasn't over. Not even close. Ardyn being able to make himself look entirely like another person was a gigantic issue. A very dangerous one. They'd have to watch each other's backs now more than ever.

xxxxxx


	6. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

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The world around Prompto felt heavy, unreal. He felt lost, confused, uncertain. A thick fog filled the air and he wasn't sure where he was or how he ended up there. Was he out in the woods? It was dark, there were plants growing up all around him... The stone wall behind him... How did he get here?

Swallowing, he looked around himself nervously. He was alone... Wasn't he? He didn't remember how to get back to camp. Why was he out here again?

Letting out a small whimper, Prompto started walking as fast as he could in the direction he hoped the caravan was. He didn't want to be out here - especially not all alone. But he didn't know which way to go... What if he was getting further away instead of closer? What if Ardyn was out here, watching, waiting for him to be alone again?

His focus shifted to a line of bushes about twenty feet away. They were moving, much more than if it were just the wind causing it.

Prompto froze and let out a soft gasp as he saw Gladio emerge from the foliage. The man smirked like he knew a really cool secret, or like he was about to do something he thought was going to be hilarious.

Taking a step back, Prompto shook his head. He could tell whatever Gladio thought was so funny wasn't going to be funny to him. He was also reasonably suspicious that it might not really be Gladio at all. With Ardyn's horrifying ability, Prompto wasn't ever going to be certain anyone was who he thought they were. How could he possibly be sure?

"Where's everyone else?" Prompto found himself whispering, so quietly he could barely hear his own words.

"What, Noct and Iggy? They left. It's just me and you here." Gladio shrugged.

"They left?" Prompto frowned. "Wh-"

"They left. They're tired of your whining. Of you being weak and accident-prone. Nobody wants to have to put so much effort into saving your ass every single day. You're so much trouble for them, so they just went ahead without you. Left me to deal with it." Gladio chuckled.

Prompto shook his head. "I'm not that much trouble... They wouldn't leave me..."

"Well, they did. Just you and me from here on out." Gladio laughed.

Prompto stared back, feeling his breath catch in his throat. "Are you really Gladio?" Prompto whispered, taking another step back as Gladio started walking toward him.

"Yeah. Of course I am." Gladio laughed, still walking toward the smaller man as Prompto stumbled backward.

Prompto felt like his legs were practically stuck, like he was walking through sand, or water as he stumbled slowly backward, trying to distance himself from Gladio, who seemed to have no problem making progress toward him. Moving was so difficult for him right now... but it wasn't for Gladio.

Prompto shook his head again. He didn't believe this was really Gladio... "If you're really Gladio... If it's really you... What's-"

"The code word?" Gladio cut in with raised eyebrows and an arrogant smirk. "Chocobo. Not that it matters. Your little code word's not going to solve shit."

Prompto frowned as Gladio stepped up really close. He couldn't get himself to move, and at some point he had backed himself up against a wall he hadn't even realized was there. He thought he'd gotten away from it when he started back toward camp, but it was there now, further trapping him. "What do you mean?" He breathed, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

"Doesn't matter that I'm the real Gladio. I always was. I was last night too." Gladio explained with a shrug. "Ardyn doesn't have some kind of magic powers. I do. It was always me. I made myself look like Ardyn, not the other way around. Or maybe you're just crazy and saw Ardyn when he wasn't there. Maybe magic like that doesn't even exist. It was me last night. All me. Doing whatever I wanted until you started screaming. Don't you ever do that again." Gladio threatened with an angry frown.

Prompto felt his eyes widening.

"Just let me do this so I don't have to hurt you." Gladio spoke, reaching out toward Prompto, grabbing his arms and pulling him toward his chest. "We're friends. You trust me. Just let me do what I want."

Prompto whimpered, closing his eyes and raising his hands up to push against Gladio's chest. "Gladio, please..." He sobbed. "Please don't hurt me... Why are you doing this!?"

"Prompto..." Was that Noct's voice? It sounded like it was right next to them, but the prince wasn't here...

Prompto looked around himself. They were still in the woods, in the dark. All alone - just the two of them. Gladio reached down and grabbed at Prompto's pants, grabbing the front and tugging them down without even unbuckling his belt or undoing the button.

"Please!" Prompto sobbed, shoving out uselessly at the larger man, then grabbing toward his pants before Gladio grabbed his wrists and stopped him. "Don't! Gladio, please stop!" He cried shakily, feeling increasingly unable to breathe.

"You're so small. I could hurt you so easily." Gladio whispered, spinning Prompto around and shoving him hard toward the ground.

Prompto landed with a shaking wince, climbing up onto his hands and knees before Gladio was on him again, pushing him back down, placing one hand harshly on the back of his head, holding him down as his other hand viciously tore at his pants again, wrestling them and his underwear all the way down to his knees.

Prompto tried to scream, to just let out the loudest noise he could... but he heard nothing. Even as he opened his mouth and tried to yell, no noise came out. "Please don't! Please! Stop!" Prompto gasped, his voice so frustratingly tiny and he thrashed around as best as he could.

"Shut up and hold still. You're so fucking annoying." Gladio growled grabbing toward the inside of Prompto's thigh and forcing his legs apart.

"No! Please!" Prompto sobbed, pressing his hands against the ground, trying to push himself back up. "Noct! Iggy! Help me! He's hurting me! Help me! Please!"

"They're gone." Gladio reminded him, pinning down Prompto's thighs with his knees and somehow forcing them further apart at the same time. "I can do whatever I want. No one's saving you this time. It's going to hurt you a lot..."

Prompto let out a shaky sob, pulling his hands into fists and trying to shrink down. Gladio was too strong. He couldn't get away... and if he and Gladio really were all alone, with no one left to hear him scream, to save him... Gladio was right. He could do whatever he wanted.

"Oh man... This is really going to hurt you, kiddo." Gladio breathed. "You're so tiny. I'm huge..."

Prompto sobbed and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt like he couldn't even breathe. He couldn't scream anymore, couldn't beg. He was just frozen there, afraid to move. This was the real Gladio. He knew the code word and everything... The real Gladio was doing this to him.

"Prompto..." Noct's voice spoke again, sounding somewhat close, but still muffled, like Prompto was hearing him from underwater.

"Noct... help me..." Prompto whimpered. Maybe he was only imagining that his friend was even nearby.

Prompto felt Gladio's hands on his arms. His grip wasn't rough, but it was there, and Prompto didn't want the man touching him at all.

"Get off of me!" Prompto screamed, slapping at the hands grabbing him and sitting up with a sharp, shaking breath. "Let me go! Don't touch me!"

The hands on his arms held him tighter, not painfully, but firmly, seeming to turn into arms around his shoulders, pulling him close, holding him in place.

"No!" Prompto screamed, thrashing around even more, kicking and trying to throw his elbow back. "Get away! Stop!"

"Prompto! Stop! It's me!" Noctis's voice sounded closer now.

Prompto suddenly felt more aware of his surroundings. It wasn't Gladio grabbing onto him. It was Noctis. He seemed worried.

"It's me..." Noctis breathed pulling back a bit, staring down at Prompto with a frown. "You awake? Prom? Are you awake?"

"Wh-" Prompto looked around himself, gasping shaking breaths as he blinked his eyes. He was in bed, in the caravan... It was morning. He was still fully dressed, even partway under a blanket. He was safe, warm, inside... He wasn't out in the woods with Gladio. Gladio wasn't even here. As far as he could tell, it was just him and Noctis.

"You okay?" Noctis frowned.

Prompto swallowed and quickly nodded, trying to will his breaths to calm down. He didn't need to be acting like this. Not in front of Noct. Not in front of anyone. He was being ridiculous. He hadn't had a nightmare he actually woke up flailing, screaming, and kicking from since he was a child dreaming about daemons sneaking into his home in the night. He'd gotten over that level of childish fear long ago, as he should have.

"I think you had a nightmare, man... You sure you're alright?" Noctis frowned, putting a hand lightly on Prompto's shoulder as he stared with concerned eyes back at his friend.

"Yeah." Prompto laughed, blinking quickly and shaking his head. "Don't be absurd. Nightmares aren't real, Noct. I'm fine."

"Okay. Good." Noctis forced a smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Prompto quickly shook his head no.

"Oh..." Noctis exhaled. "That's alright... Um... It's fine if you don't want to, but Gladio and I were gonna train a bit before breakfast and I was wondering if you wanted to join us..."

Prompto stared silently for a moment. He couldn't keep being afraid of Gladio, and he had no real reason to be... But his dream had felt real... and last night, it had looked and sounded exactly like Gladio for so long. What if Gladio really did attack him? What if it wasn't Ardyn? What if Prompto was seeing things when he saw Ardyn instead? What if Gladio tricked him?

"Nevermind." Noctis took a step back. "It's okay. You look tired. Maybe you should try to get a bit more sleep while you can." He smiled again, but it was an uncomfortable smile. Prompto could tell Noctis felt awkward about all of this. He didn't know what to say or do. Prompto was making things weird...

"No, wait..." Prompto reached out toward his friend's arm. "I'll train with you guys. I need to learn some self-defense techniques." He laughed nervously. It was fucking true. "Can't always just hang back and shoot from a distance. I need to know what to do when I'm cornered."

"Yeah." Noctis forced a small smile. "We'll teach you. Gladio's a pretty good teacher when it comes to fighting."

"Okay." Prompto forced a smile and started following his friend outside. He needed to just act normal. Gladio hadn't attacked him. Ardyn did. If Gladio had some kind of magic powers, Prompto would know about it. He hadn't made himself look like Ardyn. Prompto was being ridiculous to even consider that.

"Hey, kid. You training with us?" Gladio greeted him as he and Noctis approached an open space near the camp site. "I thought up some good strategies just for you."

"Yeah." Prompto smiled, feeling a little less nervous now that he was outside, in broad daylight, with both Noct and Gladio here with him. Nothing was going to get to him here... Not now, with his friends right next to him. Ignis was nearby too.

"So different people have better luck with different techniques based on their size, abilities, strengths... You and Noct are both kinda small-" Gladio started.

"We are not." Noctis disagreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're abnormally big."

"I wouldn't say abnormal." Gladio frowned.

Prompto let out a slight laugh, crossing his arms as well and looking over at Gladio with raised eyebrows. "Are you or are you not taller than like 98% of the people you come across out in the world?"

Gladio laughed as well and shrugged. "Anyway... You both are smaller than some enemies we'll come across, and when brute strength doesn't work - when the enemy is close and you've gotta fight back physically, there are some things you can keep in mind. I use 'em too if something big gets too close - even being pretty big for a human, there's plenty of monsters still bigger than me."

Prompto inhaled a small breath and narrowed his eyes as he looked Gladio up and down. The man was acting normal. He didn't seem to have anything sinister in his eyes. This wasn't Ardyn or terrifying dream-Gladio. It was the real one. The one Prompto trusted.

"First thing to remember is just where it hurts most to get hit. It's kind of common sense and definitely comes in handy when you're in a bind - if you feel you're outmatched, you might not really be if you go for the eyes, nose, or crotch." Gladio went on. "Almost sounds like cheating, but dammit, it works, and if you need to do it, do it."

Prompto laughed. "What?" Gladio wanted him punching monsters in the crotch?

"If you feel trapped, that's where it hurts to get elbowed or punched. It it hurts you, it'll hurt someone or something else just as much." Gladio explained. "So if someone or something is closing in, and they're huge-" Gladio stepped toward Noctis to illustrate.

"Do this." Noctis cut in, moving his hand up quickly toward Gladio's nose, palm-up.

"Geeze!" Gladio dodged back. "Don't actually do it!"

"I wasn't. I was gonna stop before it connected." Noctis laughed.

Gladio shook his head. "So... That'll break a nose if you do it hard enough. A human nose at least, but you can try it on some monsters too. No one and nothing likes getting punched in the nose... Go for the eyes if you can reach, with a weapon, with your hands, stab or claw at them, and - Noct, don't you dare - knee 'em right in the crotch as a last resort."

"Okay." Prompto laughed. Maybe he should have tried that last night. He did punch out at Ardyn's face, maybe hitting his nose... He didn't remember. He hadn't aimed so much as frantically punched out at whatever he could reach.

"If they sneak up on you though, there's a different set of rules. You can't really punch someone's nose if they grab you from behind - though you could try elbowing them in the face or gut if you can reach. You can also use your body as leverage. Noct, turn around." Gladio instructed. "Watch how he's gonna throw me off, even though I'm bigger."

Prompto frowned as Gladio reached toward Noctis like he was going to attack him. Noctis quickly bent himself over, grabbed at Gladio's arm, and twisted his body in such a way that he threw the man over himself.

Gladio grunted as he hit the ground on the other side, sort of catching himself on his hands.

Prompto grimaced. That looked kind of difficult. Noctis made it seem easy, but Noctis had been training with Gladio a lot. They probably knew each other's moves so well by this point. That wasn't how a real fight with an enemy would be. Noct knew what was coming. If someone who really wanted to hurt them attacked, it wouldn't be so simple.

"Wanna try it?" Gladio asked as he stood back up and nodded toward Prompto.

Prompto stared for a moment, inhaling a small breath and shaking his head no. "I don't want to hurt you..." He laughed. "Noct just slammed you into the ground... Like hard."

"It didn't hurt. Try it." Gladio suggested, walking toward Prompto. "I expect it, so I'll catch myself."

Prompto bit his lip and took a small step back. He didn't want to make everything weird again... This was Gladio - the real Gladio - training with him, not attacking him for real. He could try the maneuver. Worse case scenario, he wouldn't be good at it, and Gladio would let go and back off. It would be fine.

"Okay." Prompto nodded, trying to make his voice sound casual. He wasn't scared - at least, he shouldn't have been. There was no way Gladio would hurt him. He had trained with Gladio before, and the man always knew when to let up. He would be fine.

"So you'll face away from me." Gladio told him, putting his hand on Prompto's arm and pushing him gently so he faced away from the larger man.

Prompto swallowed, staring down at the ground. Gladio was so big... Prompto wasn't going to be able to lift the man off the ground. Not even with leverage. The guy would squish him. How the hell had Noct made that work?

"So the enemy comes up at you from behind-" Gladio narrated as he reached out with both hands and grabbed Prompto's arms, gently, but firmly.

Prompto felt himself tense.

"You okay?" Gladio started loosening his grip immediately.

"Yeah... It's fine." Prompto laughed. He really didn't want to make everyone else in the group feel awkward. Gladio was trying to help him right now. Prompto breathed in slowly as he reached back toward one of Gladio's arms with both of his hands, trying to grab around it as he bent forward like Noctis had just done. He pulled at Gladio's arm, but the man didn't budge.

"Don't be afraid to put your full strength into it, kid." Gladio spoke, leaning into the gesture, maybe trying to help Prompto out, but honestly kind of starting to make him feel nervous. "Grab on tight, bend forward fast, and just pull. Like you're honestly trying to fucking throw me across a field."

Prompto bit his lip again, tugging on Gladio's arm, feeling more of the man's weight on him. He was so heavy. If he didn't want to be thrown off, he wasn't going to be. Some people were just too strong to fight, even if you did know self-defense tactics. It was like trying to move a mountain - no matter how hard he tried, no matter how strongly he wanted to succeed, it just wasn't going to happen.

"Come on, Prompto. You can do this. Don't whimp out on me now." Gladio's voice was raising as his grip around Prompto's arm tightened slightly. Maybe it would have worked on him before yesterday, to sound sort of threatening and angry as a motivation tool... but not today. Now it was just kind of scary.

Gritting his teeth together, Prompto gripped Gladio's arm tighter, pulling on him harder, until he felt Gladio's hand on his back, his huge palm and fingers stretching far and wrapping part way around over the boy's ribs toward his chest.

Prompto felt his breathing pick up as he froze and stared down at the ground. Gladio's hand was so big... Last night, Ardyn - as Gladio - had commented how easy it would be to break his ribs, with just his hand, just by pushing hard enough or punching. Prompto looked down at himself, at Gladio's hand stretching around his ribs, easily covering so much space. Gladio could definitely hurt him if he wanted to.

Pausing for a moment to try to catch his breath, Prompto looked back forward at the ground again. He couldn't do this. He just wasn't strong, wasn't trained well enough... He wondered if he should just stand himself back up, tell Gladio it just wasn't going to work, give up and walk away... What if Gladio wouldn't let him go though? What if Prompto didn't have a choice here? Clearly if Gladio didn't want this training to be over, it wasn't going to be, regardless of what Prompto wanted.

So he bent down sharply, tugging at Gladio's arm again, still making no progress whatsoever as Gladio's fingers around half of his waist seemed to grip tighter. His hand was so heavy... Prompto just wanted to do the maneuver - like Noctis did... Prove to Gladio, Noct, and himself that he could do it. That he wasn't weak or scared... That he could defend himself.

But he couldn't. Gladio was so much bigger, so much stronger than he was, and this was a harsh reminder that if the man did turn against him, he could do whatever he wanted... Prompto was no match for him. Even when Gladio wasn't even really a threat, when he was just trying to teach Prompto a defense technique, Prompto couldn't do it. It wasn't even a real fight, and Prompto was still losing. If Gladio wanted to, he could do whatever he wanted to Prompto, and there wouldn't be a damn thing Prompto could do about it. Just like in Prompto's dream.

"You got this, kid. Keep at it." Gladio went on, his voice so strong and intimidating. "Do it, Prompto! You're getting there. I can feel it. Give it your all!"

Prompto breathed out a small, shaking breath, almost tearful. "I can't. You're too heavy..." He whimpered, feeling himself becoming extremely overwhelmed extremely quickly. He wanted Gladio away from him. Now. But he didn't want to be mean... and he was honestly scared that if he showed his fear, told Gladio to back off... that the man might not listen.

What if he did back up, tell Gladio he didn't want to train anymore... and Gladio just refused? Grabbed him harder, realized Prompto was completely defenseless, wrestled him to the ground... He wouldn't... right? But he could... and what if he did decide he wanted to? What would stop him? Prompto sure as hell couldn't.

"Gladio, maybe we should try this again a different day..." Noctis suggested, perhaps sensing his friend beginning to panic.

"No, he can do it." Gladio insisted, tightening his grip around Prompto's ribs. "Lean forward real fast, and just pull my arm like you're trying to rip it off." He instructed, putting his hand up near Prompto's shoulder and pushing slightly as though trying to help him bend forward quicker.

"Stop!" Prompto suddenly found himself gasping, reaching down toward the hand curling around his ribs and abandoning the training as he shrunk down. "Let go of me!" He breathed, stumbling forward as Gladio let go.

"Woah. Watch out-" Gladio stepped after him, reaching toward Prompto as the younger man tripped over his own feet and fell back.

"Don't!" Prompto screamed, crawling backward along the ground. He didn't even mean to... He hadn't planned on screaming, crawling away like a terrified animal... But that's what he was doing. He couldn't seem to help himself.

"Sorry!" Gladio gasped, stepping back and raising his hands in front of himself defensively as Prompto looked up at him.

Prompto shook his head, dragging himself rather ungracefully to his feet and taking more steps back as he tried to calm down his shaking breaths. "I'm sorry..." Prompto breathed, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. He knew Gladio wasn't going to do anything bad... It wasn't fair that he was acting afraid of the man. He was afraid, but he knew he shouldn't be. Gladio didn't attack him. Ardyn did.

"It's okay... Maybe this was too soon..." Gladio frowned. "Prompto, I'm sorry. I was trying to help..."

"I know... I'm sorry..." Prompto whimpered, feeling both guilty and anxious.

"You okay?" Gladio stared. "I didn't accidentally hurt you, did I?"

Prompto shook his head. "No... You didn't... I just... I got in my own head and freaked out. I'm sorry..." He felt his lower lip tremble as he stared from Gladio to Noctis. Noct looked kind of nervous, like he wasn't entirely sure what the problem was, but like he was almost understanding. Maybe he guessed at everything Gladio and Prompto hadn't told him.

"W-we can train more later." Noctis suggested, sounding very slightly breathless. "These things take a while to master sometimes..."

Prompto shook his head. He was making everything awkward. None of his three friends had anything to do with what happened, and Prompto was making everything weird for them. He was scared of Gladio for no fucking reason... He was kind of scared of everything for no reason. He couldn't even sleep through the night without having horrible nightmares.

"Hey... It's okay." Gladio assured him. "I shouldn't have gotten so close. I wasn't thinking... We can try again later, like Noct said. Just let me know. There's no hurry. We're all sticking together anyway, okay? So there won't be any need to know how to do this anyway, right?"

Prompto nodded, not saying anything more for now though, as he feared if he even tried to say a word, his tears would break through and he'd start audibly crying.

"I'm gonna go see how Iggy's coming along with breakfast. No hard feelings, Prompto, okay?" Gladio nodded.

Prompto nodded again, looking down as Noctis stepped closer.

Noctis put his hand on Prompto's shoulder and leaned in somewhat close as soon as Gladio had gotten far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard. "You alright, man?" He asked. "It's okay if you're not... Don't just tell me what you think I want to hear..."

"I'm alright." Prompto forced a laugh. "Just... Got kinda... I dunno... I'm sorta jumpy after last night. The guy looked just like Gladio and grabbed me... attacked me. He was big and I couldn't fight him off, and maybe it was still in my head just now. I'm trying not to let it affect me, but it was scary..."

Noctis nodded, staring intently at his friend, looking like his head was full of a million thoughts he wasn't putting into words. He was probably wondering what all Prompto wasn't telling him. Maybe his guesses were even worse than reality, but Prompto just couldn't tell him the full truth.

He shouldn't have even told Gladio. He should have never said a word about any of it to anyone. No one needed to know he was weak enough to let something like that happen to him. That there was something about him that would even make someone want to try something so sick and humiliating on him. It was embarrassing. He wished Gladio didn't know either.

"It was dumb of us to think it was a good time to teach you all that... I didn't even think about how practicing it would mean you'd have to get so close... I didn't even-" Noctis started.

"It's okay. I thought I could handle it too... I was doing fine..." He shook his head, feeling increasingly disappointed in himself. He honestly thought he was completely fine by the time Gladio and he walked back to camp last night... But as soon as he saw Ignis and Noctis and everyone started asking questions, he started to realize how big of a deal this all was... and as soon as he had nightmares proving to himself that he was legitimately scared of the real Gladio, he realized how not okay with all of this he was.

"Yeah..." Noctis grimaced. "You were gonna get there... It's easier than it seems. You just have to get the leverage right."

Prompto nodded and forced a smile. "I just... Maybe in a couple days we can try again."

"Alright." Noctis nodded and offered a small smile.

"Breakfast smells good, huh?" Prompto changed the subject. "What's he making?"

"Not sure." Noctis shrugged, putting his arm around Prompto's shoulders and giving him a quick hug before pulling back and cocking his head. "Hey, Prom... If I get too close... if you feel nervous... Will you tell me?" He asked.

Prompto blinked. "W-why would I be nervous?" He laughed.

"I would be. Someone attacked you... Doesn't matter that it wasn't me, wasn't Gladio or Iggy... If you need any of us to step back or give you some space... If you need proof we are who we say we are - just ask. I won't be offended." Noctis assured him.

"Okay." Prompto nodded.

"I'm serious. I know you want to get back to normal, but what happened was scary. Give yourself a break." Noctis frowned. "If you don't want to train, just say so. If you want to walk by yourself, or closer or further from a certain person, just say. I'm not the only one willing to help you out here. We love you, Prompto. We're all here for you however you need us to be."

Prompto felt tears stinging his eyes again. He was lucky his friends were so patient, because it really wasn't fair that they had to suffer through Prompto being weird and standoffish. They didn't do anything wrong.

"Let's go get breakfast before Gladio gets to it." Noctis smirked.

Prompto felt a smile tugging at his own lips as well. "It better not be cup noodles though."

"It won't be. Iggy only does that when he's exhausted, and never for breakfast." Noctis told him.

"He did that one day." Prompto disagreed.

"On Gladio's birthday." Noctis laughed. "He'll have something good made this morning. I almost guarantee it. The guy's really been stepping up his game lately."

"I hope so." Prompto laughed as he followed Noctis back toward camp, wrapping his arm around the other man's back and leaning onto his shoulder. "Thanks for all the support, Noct." Prompto whispered.

"Of course." Noctis said back. "Any time."

xxxxxx


	7. Chapter 7

xxxxxx

Chapter 7

xxxxxx

That night they ended up camping out in the tent. Ignis still felt Gladio and Prompto were keeping something from the others, but he also felt fairly strongly that it wasn't his place to demand answers they didn't want to give. Whatever had happened had left Prompto quite clearly shaken. Even Gladio seemed somewhat disturbed, which was unusual. It seemed Gladio knew a lot more than he was saying - perhaps because Prompto asked him not to...

Ignis didn't want to pry, to demand conversation his friends were uncomfortable with, but it was clear things between Gladio and Prompto were a bit tense, with no sign of improvement. Unfortunately, things between the two had only gotten more tense as the time passed. If he had to venture a guess, Ignis would say that first night, Prompto was a ball of nervous energy, trying to force himself to act normal even when in the middle of a very traumatic moment. He powered through, laughed and joked with everyone else... but as soon as they settled down and things got quiet, Ignis could see the boy was on-edge. He flinched at every small noise, noticeably cowered back when Gladio walked by him in camp... He and Gladio almost seemed like they were angry with each other, but in a passive, quiet way. They each seemed to mostly avoid the other when possible. Prompto even fled a battle when it seemed he'd have to work alongside Gladio too closely.

The incident was clearly still affecting the youngest member of their group. He wanted to be ready to move on and get back to business as usual, but it just didn't seem to be working out for him. Ignis couldn't help but to be suspicious. It had to have been something very big, very personal, for Prompto to flinch every time Gladio was near him, for him to seemingly do his best to quietly avoid the man whenever possible. It seemed to be getting worse too - like Prompto was determined to ignore his feelings at first, but simply couldn't. He and Gladio were barely speaking anymore - to each other or anyone else.

Ignis supposed it was entirely possible that Prompto was upset solely because Ardyn posing as his friend and luring him out into the dark night had been scary. Even if he walked away more or less unharmed, the thought of your friends potentially secretly being someone else - someone with sinister intentions - was horrifying. Prompto seemed very much like he trusted the other three with his life. He acted like he did. He rushed into battles knowing they'd watch his back. He dozed off in the car on long trips, knowing Ignis would keep them all safe on the road... Obviously he took walks out into the night with Gladio, trusting that nothing would happen...

To feel so secure followed by everything being ripped out from under him had to have been positively awful. That alone explained his more recent behavior - the fact that he was more jumpy, more cautious, and strangest of all - quieter...

Even so, Ignis still felt something was missing. There was something Prompto and Gladio weren't telling him. He'd noticed them whispering earlier today, followed by Prompto looking almost mad before walking off. Gladio seemed more defensive lately too - perhaps overly protective of Prompto even when the younger man didn't seem to want him to be. The older man stuck close to Prompto in battle, seemingly ready to back him up if need be, but Prompto kept trying to subtly distance himself to the point of it being a distraction. He was paying more attention to steering clear of Gladio than he was to fighting and defending himself. It was potentially going to become dangerous - that the two were no longer working well harmoniously.

Slowly but surely, throughout the day, Gladio had backed off. Prompto kept his distance and Gladio stopped trying to fix it. The two had grown more distant, keeping Ignis and Noctis between them as they walked, quietly falling back or running forward to get further away from the other, hardly saying a word to anyone... It was all quite strange.

As usual, Ignis was the only one lying awake tonight, thinking, worrying, while everyone else slept. Tonight, Prompto lay between him and Noctis, with Gladio on Noctis's other side. Maybe he was seeing something that wasn't there, but Ignis could swear Prompto purposefully orchestrated that - likely not wanting to sleep next to Gladio. Usually Prompto didn't seem to care where he slept. He'd throw himself down anywhere, including on top of people - including Gladio... But he seemed a lot more cautious tonight.

If what they'd told him was the truth, that was heartbreaking on many levels. Gladio hadn't actually done anything... but Prompto was somewhat understandably nervous around him. It wasn't fair, but it did make sense.

Ignis frowned and looked down as he felt Prompto flinch next to him. The boy let out a soft whimper moving his hand slightly.

Ignis remained silent as he continued staring down at his companion, whose lips were set in a pout as his brows furrowed with worry. He must have been dreaming - and seemingly not a good dream either.

It honestly hurt his heart to picture in his head everything his young friend had gone through the previous night. He could imagine Prompto being lured away by the Gladio-impersonator. Prompto probably had no suspicions whatsoever. He was so trusting - not with everyone, but with the three of them. If he thought Gladio was asking him to do something, he probably did it without question. No matter what it was.

Ignis wondered if things turned south for the boy quickly or slowly. Were he and Ardyn-as-Gladio simply walking along and then suddenly Ardyn turned and punched the boy? Or was it slow? Did Prompto start to get suspicious before anything really happened? Did Ardyn taunt him? Did he keep posing as Gladio and laugh while he hurt the younger man? Taking joy and amusement from Prompto questioning what was happening and why?

And was there indeed something more? Prompto was so upset... His arms were lined with bruises - ones shaped like fingers, darkening into slender, purple marks today. Ardyn had held him down for some reason... Prompto's behavior indicated that the attack was extremely personal - and of course it was when the attacker appeared to be his friend - but was it more than just a punch to the nose and attempted strangulation? It was hard to say. Even what Ignis knew from Gladio's and Prompto's explanation of the event would explain the nervousness and tension among the two... but he couldn't help but to feel there was more to it.

If Ardyn's aim was to kill the poor boy, he would have. If that was his main goal, Prompto wouldn't still be breathing. He had successfully lured the boy away from camp, had him all alone for who knew how long... Prompto wasn't really all that strong. He was fairly small, much better with machines and precision with a gun than with physical fighting. Ardyn definitely could have killed him easily... But he hadn't. He wanted something else. He wanted to hurt Prompto without killing him.

Narrowing his eyes, Ignis looked down at his friend, taking in his features in the light of the moon as Prompto twitched slightly again, letting out a soft, shaky breath. He had so many small injuries - no big ones. No broken bones, knife or gun wounds. Nothing that indicated his attacker wanted to cause deadly damage... Just bruises, scrapes, the bloody nose he had when he first got back. It wasn't attempted murder. It was slow, lots of grabbing, pushing, punching, holding down - more like Ardyn wanted to control him, physically keep him where he wanted him, than cause serious harm.

If Ignis was going to honestly guess, without discounting what he truly hoped couldn't be the case, he'd wonder if the older man hadn't sexually assaulted the younger. If Ardyn did desire to do something like that, Prompto was the best target for it. He was the smallest. He was innocent, trusting, sometimes even naive. He really was quite vulnerable, in a way. If any of the four of them were likely to be psychically overpowered by someone, it would be Prompto. It hurt Ignis's heart to admit to himself, but it was true. Prompto wasn't very strong, and he was so scared of disappointing his friends. If he still thought it was Gladio, maybe he would have barely even tried to fight back, scared he'd make the man mad.

Prompto was so jumpy ever since the incident. He cowered down, flinched, didn't seem to want anyone getting too close - especially not Gladio. If Prompto had experienced that thinking it was Gladio doing it at the time, it would explain why he was still so fearful of the man. Maybe he even still had his doubts on whether it truly was Gladio who hurt him.

As horrible as it was to even consider, Ignis couldn't push out of his mind that the truth may have been exactly that: Ardyn disguised himself as Gladio, tricked Prompto into following him out away from the others, and sexually assaulted him. It fit Prompto's behavior. Gladio's too, since the older man seemed to feel so awkward around the younger man. Maybe Prompto had told Gladio what happened. Maybe Gladio saw some of it... And perhaps they agreed to just not talk about it because Prompto and maybe even Gladio were so ashamed and disturbed by it. If that was the case, Ignis hoped it was at least minimal. He hoped Gladio had gotten there in time to stop Ardyn from taking things as far as he could have. Poor Prompto had to have been so scared, so heartbroken, being pinned down and hurt by what appeared to be someone he trusted...

With a soft exhale, Ignis scanned the sleeping forms of his other friends. Everyone seemed to be doing okay still. No one was missing tonight. There had been no sign of Ardyn since the night before. Hopefully it was a one-time thing. Hopefully Ardyn was toying with them, wanting to see if he could get one of them out away from the others - testing the waters... but hopefully planning on leaving them alone from here.

"N-" Prompto's soft, yet frightened voice stammered as the boy suddenly jerked his arm to the side, hitting Ignis fairly hard against his ribs before letting out a shaky breath and seeming to shrink down. He whimpered slightly, sounding quite close to tears, but not saying anything, not blinking his eyes open. He was still asleep, likely having a nightmare.

"Prompto." Ignis whispered, reaching carefully for his friend's hand, still balled in a fist, both to keep the boy from hitting him again and to perhaps put his mind at ease a bit while he slept. "You're dreaming. You're okay..." He assured his friend in a very low voice, hoping not to wake the others.

"No!" Prompto gasped, blinking his eyes open, suddenly yanking his arm out of Ignis's grip, and crawling backward. He stared wide-eyed back at Ignis, breathing quick, shaky breaths. He looked scared at first, followed by confusion, then fear again. Ignis could see tears in his eyes as he stared back, his chest rising and falling quickly as his lower lip trembled.

"It's okay... You're alright. You're safe here with all of us. You're fine." Ignis whispered, keeping his distance and raising his hands in defense as he stared. "It's just me, Prompto. You were having a dream I think. None of it is real. You're safe."

"I'm sorry... I just-" Prompto breathed. "Did I hit you? I'm sorry... I didn't mean to freak out..."

"That's alright." Ignis assured him. "It's okay. It was only a dream. You're safe."

"I d- I'm... I'm sorry..." Prompto stammered, shaking his head and moving nervously toward the tent's zipper. "I gotta get some air..."

Ignis swallowed as he watched his young friend carefully unzip the tent and climb out, zipping it back behind him. He had to go after him... Maybe it would be a good time to finally get answers, or to at least give Prompto an opportunity to talk without the chance of being overheard... if he wanted to.

It was quite cold out at night lately, so Ignis grabbed up Prompto's blanket before he headed out. As usual, the boy hadn't taken a jacket with him. Ignis knew he'd be freezing out there, and suspected he'd be too proud and/or nervous to head back into the tent for something warmer to wear.

Quietly unzipping the tent, Ignis stepped out, heading over to where Prompto was sitting near the fire, which was pretty much out by now. The younger man sat with his legs crossed, his elbows on them, and his hands clasped near his chin. He simply stared at the glowing remains of the fire, ignoring the fact that Ignis had joined him.

"Don't want you catching cold, Prompto." Ignis spoke in a low voice as he carefully draped Prompto's blanket over the boy's shoulders.

"Thanks, Iggy." Prompto whispered, not taking his eyes off the dying fire.

"What happened last night was traumatic." Ignis spoke as he sat down, being sure to keep his distance enough, but not too much. He didn't want to force Prompto to sit close to him, but didn't want to appear cold and detached either. If Prompto wanted to sit close,he certainly was invited to do so.

"Yeah." Prompto laughed shakily. "Sorry if I hit you." He whispered.

"You didn't." Ignis lied. "A sort of elbow to the ribs is all... It was nothing. It happens all the time camping in a tent with the three of you. I don't think I've ever known another group of people who move so much in their sleep as the lot of you do. At least it wasn't a foot to the nose again."

"I'm sorry." Prompto shrunk down and frowned over at him.

Ignis forced a small laugh. "That's an old scar, Prompto, and it was funny a mere ten minutes later. You certainly need not apologize for that one again. I was attempting humor by bringing it up."

"You were? Didn't know you liked things that were funny." Prompto narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"I love things that are funny." Ignis smiled back. "That's why I'd like to know you're okay. To help you if you aren't. You're ordinarily such a source of humor and joy, and it pains me to see you hurting."

Prompto swallowed and looked down. "I'm okay." He promised. "J-just anxious."

"I understand that. I can try to help you work through it if you'll allow me." Ignis offered.

"How?" Prompto frowned.

"Talking it out to start... Making sure I've got all the information I need to help you feel safer." Ignis answered. "Bottling things like this up, not having a suitable outlet, pushing down your feelings... it doesn't help. I find sometimes talking through a traumatic experience is the best way to start to process and deal with it. It's what I do. You know I won't judge."

"I was dumb to believe it was Gladio for so long. He was acting so weird... I feel like an idiot." Prompto whispered. "Like I should have caught on a long time before I finally did. I could have gotten away before I was trapped out there so far from everyone else. I let him draw me out so far. He wanted me away from you guys and I just did exactly what he wanted. So easy."

"Everything that happened was the fault of the person who orchestrated it, Prompto." Ignis reminded him. "That isn't you. You were unwittingly involved in something traumatic, and it is in absolutely in no way your fault. It's understandable you gave Gladio the benefit of the doubt, because in that moment, it seemed to be him there with you. Who on earth would question if someone isn't who they look and sound like without knowing of Ardyn's capabilities? Before this... any one of you acting bizarre... I'd still believe it was you. We're not machines, Prompto. It's not always easy to judge if someone is acting off, or if they're just having an off day."

"I know." Prompto whispered. "It just sucks that he tricked me... and that I thought it was Gladio almost the whole time. I feel like I should have known just because I know Gladio would never hurt me. I feel really bad that I believed he would... that I almost still believe he could..."

"I can promise you Gladio would never, ever hurt you, Prompto." Ignis frowned. "And you know this... You're having doubts, but you know."

Prompto shrugged one shoulder. "I know." He whispered, looking down.

"We can talk it out if you'd like. Tell me any part of it that's bothering you most. You may find I don't even need to say anything back in order for you to start to feel a little better." Ignis offered again. "I find talking helps a lot more than many people realize."

"Well, I should know, right?" Prompto laughed nervously. "I talk a lot."

"Not so much lately." Ignis frowned. "If you'd like to tell me more, to work through any anxieties you're still feeling... I'm willing to hear it. I can almost gunaruntee you'll feel better in the long run, an I can one-hundred percent guarantee my full support, respect, and understanding. No matter what happened, it's not your fault. It's not your fault you're scared still. None of this is your responsibility, but you do have to live on and decide how to deal with it."

Prompto shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple. Talking won't change what happened. I'll be okay. I think I just maybe need to wait to stop feeling scared... I... I mean, it was only last night, and it was scary, Ignis... It was Gladio. I was one hundred percent sure that it was him. Even small things being weird about him, I didn't notice... Sometimes people do things slightly different than other days. Am I going to be second-guessing everyone I know for the rest of my life? How do I know you're really talking to me? How will I know it's really Gladio and Noct back in the tent? Do I have to ask everyone for the stupid code word for the rest of my life?"

Ignis inhaled a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "I won't claim this situation isn't complicated. It does requite a bit of tedious care to be put into our interactions at times. I certainly won't be offended if you need to reassure yourself that you really are talking to me. And it doesn't have to be a code word. You can just ask me something only I would know. Ask what we had for dinner after key events on our trip - things we'd remember, but an outsider wouldn't know. Do it with any of us. Draw on memories. Ask Noctis about something from high school. Ask Gladio about about camping last summer..."

Prompto nodded and scooted closer to Ignis. "I still feel like an idiot for falling for it. I know what you'll say - that it could have happened to anyone... That it's not my fault. But there's a reason he tried it on me. He knew I'm too trusting. And he knew he was stronger than me."

"Neither of those things are anything to be ashamed by." Ignis frowned. "Being trusting is a positive trait, Prompto, and you can't help if someone is larger than you. You're perfect how you are and have no reason to feel at all responsible for this. What would you have yourself have done differently? Not trusted that your friend was standing in front of you talking to you? How could you have known?"

Prompto narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Ignis. "I just don't think he would have tried that with you... or Gladio. Probably not even Noctis."

Ignis shrugged. "Maybe not. And I'm not sure why he'd want to hurt you either. Perhaps he merely chose the one of us he knew he was stronger than, and who he knew would be trusting. That shows cowardice on his part - to choose to hurt you due merely to the fact that you're so innocent. But it's not up to us to make sense of that brute's choices. It's not our responsibility to defend or explain them. I do feel it's my responsibility to reassure you, Prompto, that you've done nothing wrong. You're allowed to feel scared, uncomfortable, anxious... What happened was rough, physically and psychologically."

Prompto smiled slightly and nodded, blinking back unshed tears.

"Posing as someone's friend, tricking them so you can hurt them... That's cold. And the fact that you say he didn't stop posing as Gladio for so long makes it all the more cruel. It wasn't enough for him to hurt you. He wanted you to think it was your friend doing it." Ignis frowned. "You're well within your rights to feel all numbers of negative emotions surrounding this. You can heal at your own pace, share at your own pace." He added. "If there are other aspects to this, I'll be willing to hear them if and when you're ready."

Prompto silently shook his head, all but confirming there was indeed something more, but clearly he was not ready to share it.

"Until then, you have my support. Now and always. You can always come to me, with any issue. You can come to me even if you just need someone to sit with you in silence and without explanation. I'm here for you." Ignis told him.

Prompto smiled, scooting even closer and laying his head on Ignis's shoulder. "I might have to take you up on that offer... Constantly filling the silence all the time is tiring. I know I talk a lot... but I would like to just sit in silence now and then..."

"I'm always here for it." Ignis said again.

"I know. You sit in silence almost all the time." Prompto laughed. "I feel like Gladio and I go back and forth all day... You and Noct are so quiet."

"Things have been quiet for all of us today." Ignis noted.

"I know." Prompto frowned. "I realize it's not his fault. Gladio, I mean. I haven't been joking with him as much, and he's not talking to me much either. It's my fault... He was trying harder than me and he's made me mad just by walking too close... He didn't even think about it. He's just acting normal and I'm over there behaving as though I expect him to reach out and attack me... but he wouldn't. I'm being unfair. He's probably mad at me... I feel nervous around him... I know it wasn't him... but for a few minutes, in my mind... it was."

"He'll quickly regain your trust. I don't think it'll take long for you to remember why you trusted him so much in the first place. I'm sure he fully understands your reluctance to get close for now." Ignis assured him.

"I hope so. I don't want him to think I'm mad at him, or for him to be mad at me. I'm not mad... Just uneasy. And I realize it's not his fault. It's mine-" Prompto went on.

"No. It's Ardyn's. It's not your fault, Prompto." Ignis disagreed, wrapping his arm around Prompto's shoulders. "Please do no blame yourself for any of this. That man took advantage of your trust. He had to lie and trick you to get you to follow him... and even if he hadn't lied, even if he just asked you to go with him and you did, knowing full well it was him, it's still his fault. He's the one who chose to hurt you. You didn't ask for that. You didn't invite it."

"I guess." Prompto agreed, snuggling closer to Ignis, closing his eyes and yawning. "Thanks for letting me complain and...you know..."

"Of course." Ignis frowned. "Though I wouldn't call it complaining. Your nerves and fears are very valid in this instance. Don't guilt yourself over it. Things will return to normal in due time, and no one blames you for being tense or nervous after something like this. We understand, and things will get better. We'll all be back to our normal selves soon."

"I hope so." Prompto agreed, his voice lower, almost as though he was falling asleep.

"I know so." Ignis smiled, hugging his arm snugly around Prompto's shoulders as the younger man leaned against him.

Prompto exhaled softly, shifting so he was more comfortable as he stared up at the sky. "You ever get tired of taking care of everyone all the time, Iggy?" He asked with a small frown.

"Not at all." Ignis smiled, tilting his head slightly as he observed his friend. "I find I'm good at it, noticing what people need and doing my best to make sure they get it. Whether it's a hot meal, advice, help in battle... It's satisfying to do. I care a lot about people."

"I know." Prompto whispered. "I can tell you do. I really like that about you."

Ignis laughed softly. "Well, thank you, Prompto."

"I've always liked looking at the stars." Prompto noted after a few seconds of silence, his voice still quiet.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Ignis looked up as well, then glanced back down at Prompto, who had closed his eyes.

"We should camp out more often." Prompto mumbled softly. "Like without the tent. If it doesn't rain."

"We could. Not sure the others would like it." Ignis shrugged.

Prompto was silent for a moment, long enough that Ignis guessed he had fallen asleep, before the boy finally spoke again. "Just... make a big fire..." He paused for another few moments. "It'll be warm."

"That's not a bad idea, Prompto." Ignis agreed. "I'm definitely up for it."

He glanced back down at Prompto again, noting the younger man's eyes were still closed, but he was smiling slightly, breathing even, calm breaths. He was either asleep or close to it, and for that Ignis was glad.

As he sat out here, under the stars, with one of the most important people in his life snuggled up close against him, Ignis felt a stab of pain in his heart. He still hadn't gotten answers out of the boy, but it seemed very likely his earlier guess was accurate. That possibility made Ignis feel a gut wrenching sadness, but also a degree of anger he wasn't entirely used to feeling. Prompto was such a sweet, innocent young man. Ignis couldn't even imagine someone feeling the urge to hurt him. The fact that Ardyn took advantage of his friend's innocence made Ignis wasn't to punch the man... and Ignis absolutely did not feel the inclination to be violent often.

Ignis stared into the fire as he sat and listened to Prompto's steady, even breaths. He didn't mind sitting here longer, letting his friend fall asleep. He'd noticed sleep didn't seem to be coming easily to the younger man since the events of last night. If this was what he needed to be comfortable and content enough to finally get some good sleep, Ignis was more than happy to oblige.

Trying to remain mostly still, Ignis glanced toward the tent when he heard the zipper being undone. Gladio was climbing out of it. The man immediately frowned when he saw Ignis and Prompto.

"He asleep?" Gladio whispered.

"I think so." Ignis whispered back.

"Is he doing okay?" Gladio frowned.

"I believe he'll be fine. He's still feeling anxious over what happened... though it seems to me you're both keeping part of it from Noct and me." Ignis noted. "The emotions under this are strong... Keeping both of you from talking to each other... What I do know is very traumatic, but I can't help but to wonder if there's even more I've not been told..."

Gladio simply stared, looking like a guilty child, but neither confirming nor denying the accusation.

"Perhaps it's not my place to know." Ignis went on. "I won't pressure anyone into telling me anything they don't want to share. I do believe I know enough to take proper action from here. We'll keep our wits about us."

Gladio exhaled and shook his head. "I can't tell you more... He asked me not to. It's his trauma and I don't feel it's my place to share it without his permission." He finally whispered. "Like you said, you know enough. If you want the gritty details, I'm the wrong person to ask. I wasn't even there."

Ignis nodded, having a feeling he already knew what happened. Maybe hearing confirmation of what he feared wasn't what he wanted after all. It wasn't like it would change anything. He was already feeling fiercely protective of his young friend. He couldn't possibly feel more so.

"Just make sure you're patient with him as he heals from this. Remember, he saw Ardyn as you for most of whatever happened. There was a painful portion of time he thought you were doing to him whatever Ardyn actually did. I take it he told you more than he's told me... Think of whatever he told you that happened, and see it from his perspective. He felt and experienced that thinking it was you doing it. He realizes that it wasn't really you, but the feelings and thoughts he had during won't just go away overnight." Ignis explained.

Gladio frowned. "I get it." He spoke in a low voice.

"He's worried you're angry with him - for keeping his distance more lately. It might do well for us all to try to move on - to treat him as normally as we can, while being mindful that he may want some space at the same time. I'm sure all of us acting as though he's seconds from breaking isn't helping him." Ignis noted.

"I'll try to be more normal..." Gladio shrugged. "It's just messed up is all... When I found him out there... Just... I mean, he was scared... I was scared too - for him. The longer I talked to him, saw how fucking scared he was... I don't even know what to say to him, but I've tried acting normal and... Just the way he flinches when I get close, looks at me like he's scared of me. You're right... We should try to get back to normal. I just don't know for sure where I need to draw the line. He's not comfortable with normal."

"Perhaps we need to let him lead the way then." Ignis suggested. "Don't go in for a hug, a fist bump... If he wants to initiate it..."

Gladio shook his head and exhaled. "It just sucks... He used to trust me."

Ignis frowned and inhaled a breath, wondering if his advise was even correct now. This whole situation affected them all - and Gladio seemed more bothered by it that Ignis realized.

"I'm gonna go for a run before everyone else wakes up. See you guys in about an hour." Gladio told him.

"Alright. Perhaps I'll start breakfast shortly before dawn." He responded. An hour sure was a long time for a run... Ignis hoped everyone could get back to normal soon. Camp was a strange, heavy sort of tense he absolutely did not enjoy. None of them did.

xxxxxx


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a brief mention of how Prompto and Noctis met in high school in this chapter and I've changed it a tiny bit. It's hardly relevant, but just so you know, I do realize their initial meeting didn't go exactly as I've described it here.

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Chapter 8

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The following day, after being sort of forced to help make a not-so-appetizing breakfast of toast and overcooked eggs, Noctis lead the way to a cave they had planned to explore.

Prompto seemed to be trying to stick close to Noctis as they traveled today, but was uncharacteristically quiet - as he had been all morning and most of the day before. Whatever had happened two nights ago clearly had Prompto feeling uneasy. Noctis just wished his friend would tell him more details. He couldn't really help without knowing the full story.

When he woke up this morning, Noctis found that he was the only one still in the tent. That wasn't all that unusual. He had a habit of sleeping in as late as the others would let him. He'd sleep until noon if they allowed it... But sleep wasn't coming as easy for any of them lately.

It was actually still early when he woke on his own, but clearly no one else was sleeping well either. He got up to find Ignis and Prompto outside near the fire. Prompto was asleep at least, hugged protectively against Ignis's side, looking actually quite comfortable and cozy wrapped up in his blanket from the tent.

Ignis must have felt it was important to let the younger man sleep, at least until Gladio got back from his run and breakfast was ready... So he made Noctis cook. And Noctis was not good at cooking... Which was why they had the toast and overcooked eggs.

Ignis hadn't even given the prince much instruction on the cooking - instead focusing on Prompto, talking to Noctis about his concerns, worrying that they were all treating the young man too carefully, making him feel awkward... but also concerned that perhaps he and Noctis hadn't ever gotten the full story. Ignis seemed unsure of what to do for once. On the one hand, Prompto needed them not to treat him any differently - he was still the same Prompto they knew and loved after all... but on the other hand, the young man was jumpy, nervous - even more so than usual. If they acted like everything was fine, acted normal, he might face unnecessary anxiety. Lately the blonde had been gasping, even flinching at the smallest things - someone putting their hand on his arm to get his attention, someone walking too close while he was spaced out and hadn't noticed right away. He was clearly on-edge, full of nerves and worry.

Noctis was worried too. He hadn't ever seen his friend so anxious, unable to sleep, barely eating, hardly talking. It was painful to not hear him and Gladio joke back and forth as much as usual, to have him hardly taking any photos, and when he did, they were half-hearted, quick shots likely just to try to convince the others he was okay. They could see he wasn't.

That's why Noctis was trying to keep this friend closer lately, to watch out for him, and to hopefully get some chances to talk to him, to reassure him however he could. Obviously to have a stranger pose as a friend and lure him off on his own to attack him was traumatizing. Noctis understood and sympathized with him. It was probably going to take a while for Prompto to start feeling safe again, but he wanted to be reassuring and supportive still. Noctis wanted to find that balance - of treating Prompto the same as he always would, but acknowledging that he'd gone through something traumatizing and giving him support, time, and space to deal with it.

"Did you like my eggs?" Noctis asked casually as he walked up closer to Prompto.

"What?" Prompto blinked, staring at Noctis like he hadn't even known the other man was there. He must have been deep in thought, lost in his own head again. He was doing that a lot lately.

"Breakfast this morning. The eggs I made. Did you like them?" Noctis smirked, knowing his cooking was horrible, hoping Prompto would make a joke about it and Noctis could pretend to be offended and they could both laugh.

"Um. Eggs? Yeah..." Prompto answered. "They were good."

"Did you try them?" Noctis frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Because Iggy looked like he could barely swallow his. He's too polite. I could see on his face that he could barely stand not to just throw them out, but he wanted to be nice and ate them anyway. If he has me cook again, watch his face while he eats it. It's kinda funny."

"Oh..." Prompto looked back, in-taking a small breath as though worried Noctis was going to be upset with him. "Maybe I didn't try them... I think I had a bite of toast. It wasn't bad... Kinda dry.. But it's toast..." He shrugged, forcing a laugh.

Noctis smiled slightly, but he could hear in Prompto's laugh that the younger man wasn't really feeling it. It wasn't a genuine laugh.

"We're going to want to split up once we get to the cave." Ignis strategized from a few yards back. "The large bird that considers it home might come out long enough for two of us to safely go in, if the other two distract it, but we'll have to move carefully and quickly. Get this done as fast as possible to minimize the risk. The longer it takes, the more chances we have to fail. It'll only take a second for our host to decide to return and make us into a snack."

"You really think this is worth maybe being eaten by a giant bird?" Prompto frowned.

"The gems we need for that upgrade are only found in this exact cave. That's what the man said... If we want the upgrade, we need to make this work. I can't say which role is safest... Either way runs a risk..." Ignis frowned and paused for a moment, staring at Prompto with narrowed eyes. "Perhaps we can rework my plan... I don't want any of us going in unprepared and getting hurt. Lack of confidence often equals lack of ability, if for no other reason than unintentional self-sabotage. If you don't believe you can do this, it might be better to sit this one out. I don't want anyone panicking and getting hurt."

"He can do it, Iggy. He always panics and he never dies. He's just nervous. You know he gets like that. We always push through anyway. He'll be fine." Gladio frowned, practically glaring at Prompto.

Prompto inhaled a small breath and stared back at Gladio, then glanced for a half-second in Noctis's direction. It was so quick, but the look in his eyes almost seemed pleading, like he wanted Noctis to step in and help him, but didn't want to ask. He looked away again before Noctis could really be sure though.

"Just like always, kid. You got this." Gladio nodded and forced a small smile, probably immediately realizing his mistake in staring at the younger man like he was angry. "We're doing it together, so we've each got back up. And there's crevices we can dodge into if things get tough. We'll be fine. Lure the bird out, get the stuff and go. Easy as it comes. You either work on the outside, be distracting, move quickly, dodge at the right moments... or sneak in, get the stuff and run back out - quick and quiet."

"Um... No offense, but I don't think I want to do either of those things... Feels like either choice, I'm gonna end up being eaten by a bird." Prompto frowned, not looking even remotely like he was joking. "I'm not going in that cave... As soon as we get in there, it's probably gonna come back and there's not going to be an exit anymore."

"Then you can stay out here with me. It'll probably be best that way. We're trying to distract the thing, and you never shut up." Gladio suggested with a smirk, stepping toward Prompto and putting his hand lightly on the younger man's shoulder. "That, and you can shoot from a distance if it comes to it, and I'll be backup - if need be. Hopefully we can just lure it out, distract it long enough for Iggy and Noct to get in and out, and call it done."

Noctis raised his eyebrows as he looked over at Prompto, who was looking somewhat pale, but had grown silent as he stared up at Gladio like the man had just asked him to jump off a cliff.

"That okay?" Gladio frowned, stepping back, clearly realizing Prompto was feeling a bit tense around him still.

"Yeah..." Prompto whispered, forcing a smile.

"Alright. Let's get to it. Sooner we get this worked out, the sooner we can be done and find somewhere to camp. This day's been long as hell." Gladio complained, walking off to the side and looking over his weapon. "Hope I don't need to use it. Make sure you've got your ammo ready, Prompto."

Prompto looked down at the ground and swallowed biting his lip.

"You okay?" Noctis spoke in a low voice as he leaned down a bit and looked into his friend's eyes.

Prompto nodded, but Noctis could swear he had tears in his eyes.

"It's really Gladio this time... You could ask him the code word if you've got doubts. I guess splitting up into pairs after what happened might not sound like the best idea, but that's why we established the code word, right? To make sure?" Noctis reminded him.

Prompto closed his eyes and inhaled a slow breath. "I'm not scared of him. I have no reason to be." Noctis wasn't sure if Prompto was talking to him, or trying to reassure himself.

Noctis could tell Prompto really didn't want to go off with Gladio, alone. He could also tell that the younger man wasn't going to say anything to make sure it didn't happen though. He was nervous as hell and it showed. If they weren't going up against a large predator, Noctis may have not said anything. Prompto needed to be around Gladio more - the real Gladio - to prove to himself that Gladio was a good guy, that he wouldn't ever hurt him, that his fears weren't needed... But to do that experiment now, during a mission someone could reasonably get killed during would be foolish. All it would take was one wrong move and someone might end up dead. Prompto needed to have his wits about him right now.

"Uh, Iggy, Gladio... I've been thinking... I could really use Prompto in there with me." Noctis spoke up. "He's fast... If we're going for stealth, it'd make since to have someone small and quick sneak in. If anyone can dodge in and out and get what we came for, It'd be Prompto."

"That might not be a bad idea." Ignis agreed. "If we're to send in the smallest of us, it'd be Noct and Prompto. It would make sense for the physically larger to be the decoys. The bird is more likely to notice you and I, Gladio."

"Sure." Gladio nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Noctis could tell the older man didn't like that Prompto was avoiding him, but Gladio also clearly understood why and wasn't about to be a jerk about it.

"Come on, Prompto. Let's wait near the entrance until Iggy and Gladio draw it out." Noctis ordered, waving for Prompto to follow him as he led the way.

Prompto followed, much more quietly than normal. Noctis could tell he felt guilty.

As they neared a large boulder by the mouth of the cave, a loud rumbling filled the air. The ground almost seemed to quake. Out of instinct, as he pressed himself against the stone surface, Noctis reached back, putting his hand against Prompto's chest and pushing him back against the rock as well.

Prompto let out a sharp gasp and shoved Noctis's hand away, then immediately apologized with wide eyes and his hands up defensively in front of himself. "I'm sorry! I- I didn't mean to shove you..." He grimaced.

"It's fine." Noctis frowned. "We're okay... I shouldn't have grabbed at you so suddenly. It was an instinct. I wasn't thinking. Sorry... We'll wait here for a minute until they draw it out... It's definitely awake now." He added with a small smile and a laugh.

Prompto swallowed as he stared at Noctis, leaning subtly away from him. If Noctis had to guess, he would assume Prompto might have been nervous at the fact that he was once again separated from the whole group - with only Noctis here... and if Ardyn could disguise himself as Gladio, he could disguise himself as Noctis.

"It's really me here with you, Prompto." Noctis spoke, his voice low and calm, hopefully reassuring.

"Yeah..." Prompto breathed out nervously, clearly not entirely convinced, but not wanting to outwardly admit that he was doubting his friend. "I know..."

"We met in high school. I was in a bad mood. You weren't, even though you'd just tripped down the stairs in front of everybody..." Noctis told him a rather specific story, hoping that would be solid proof enough to put the younger man's mind at ease.

Prompto finally smiled for real, along with a genuine laugh Noctis had been missing lately. "I forgot the stairs were there. Thought I was on the ground floor already..." He remembered. "Each of that school's floors looked the same... I was talking to someone who was walking too fast so I was like backwards jogging ahead of him and went right down..."

Noctis smiled. "I was worried about you. We didn't really know each other, but you just tumbled down those stairs like it was nothing. I thought for sure you'd have broken limbs."

"I thought I would too." Prompto laughed. "My wrist hurt really bad, but I'd wanted to build up the courage to talk to you for so long, and you were right there, and I had your attention. I pretended I didn't feel a thing. But I did go the nurse later that day."

"I'm sorry." Noctis frowned.

"It's okay. It wasn't broken." Prompto shrugged. "And maybe if I hadn't caused a big scene, we would have never made friends."

"I guess I'm glad you fell down the stairs then." Noctis laughed.

"Yeah. Me too." Prompto agreed, then frowned as he looked down at the ground. "I think Gladio's mad at me." He whispered.

"No he's not." Noctis stared back and Prompto, putting his hand lightly on the other man's shoulder. "I don't think anyone on the planet could ever be mad at you. He's not mad, Prom. I think he's worried, but he's not mad."

Prompto shook his head. "He is. He's trying to be friends and trying to act normal... He's just doing what we'd always do, being normal... and I keep being weird. He's gonna stop trying soon, because I'm not trying hard enough. I want things to go back to how they were, but I feel scared like constantly, especially of him... I know it's dumb and it's illogical. I know it wasn't him in the woods... I can't stop being a dumb idiot about this..."

"You're not being dumb. He'll understand, Prompto. You can heal from this at your own pace." Noctis told him. "It's a weird situation, and it might be uncomfortable for now, but it'll get better. He's not mad at you. I think he's just worried. He feels awkward the same way you do - trying to act normal, not sure if normal is what you want, or what he wants, or what any of us need. The whole situation is strange. It's hard to know how to move forward."

Prompto nodded. "I'm trying to brush it off and not outwardly express how fucking nervous I am, Noct. I understand it's irrational... That it wasn't him and I'm being ridiculous. I'm trying... But sometimes my face tells a story without me even saying anything."

"That's why I suggested you come with me instead." Noctis explained. "I could see you were nervous."

"Maybe I should have just gone with him... Forced myself to act normal." Prompto frowned. "It was a good opportunity to just force myself to be with him. Just me and him. To prove to him that I'm not scared of him. To prove to myself that I'm not. I'm not scared of Gladio, Noct... At least, I shouldn't be."

"We'll have all the time in the world for that." Noctis told him. "We'll get back to normal. You're not scared of him. You're scared of Ardyn. Nobody blames you for feeling unsure and weird about all this. You'll start feeling better being around Gladio, because it wasn't him who attacked you. You've just gotta get yourself to trust that he's really himself - and he is... but it makes sense why you've got your doubts. It might not be overnight, but we'll get there."

"I hope so." Prompto nodded. "That's what Iggy said too."

"I can't even begin to understand how scary that must have been - to have Gladio just seemingly attack you out of nowhere... I mean, the guy is huge. He can be scary even when it's really him..." Noctis noted.

"Yeah." Prompto laughed nervously. "I was so confused... I thought he was joking for like a painfully awkward amount of time. Even after-" Prompto cut himself off with a small gasp and snapped his mouth shut. "I mean... it happened kinda fast... But we walked for a while and he was kinda weird the whole time..." He trailed off.

Noctis exhaled, really wanting to ask Prompto for more details. He didn't want to be pushy, to pressure his friend into talking when Prompto didn't want to... but he really wanted to know if his suspicions were true - if he was missing something here. Prompto really seemed to be holding back, and his injuries didn't necessarily match his story. If Ardyn quickly attacked him, punched him and choked him... why did he had hand marks up and down his arms? Why was he so nervous? Prompto had been attacked my monsters so many times - ones that did more damage than this... and he wasn't so emotionally hurt by it.

Obviously thinking Gladio was trying to kill him would have been pretty scary and heartbreaking for the young man, but it just felt like there was something more. Something Prompto wasn't coming forward with.

"Guess I just need to be patient with myself. You're all being patient with me... I could try doing the same, right?" Prompto wondered, looking over at Noctis with furrowed brows and a pout on his lips.

"Of course." Noctis agreed. "Don't be hard on yourself over this. Things will get back to normal. We just have to give it time."

"Okay, Noct. I'll try to give myself a break here..." Prompto smiled. "Thanks."

Noctis nodded. "No problem." He paused, swallowing nervously, then inhaling and exhaling slowly. "Prompto...?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Prompto looked back toward him.

"Is there anything else? I mean, when Ardyn posed as Gladio, he attacked you, hit you... choked you... You thought he might have been trying to kill you. Did he do anything else? Or like say anything?" Noctis asked, feeling his heart rate quicken as he asked, as he hoped he wouldn't make Prompto upset. He wanted answers, but at the same time, he was scared of what those answers might be.

Prompto quickly shook his head. "That's it, Noct. Isn't that enough?" He frowned.

"What?" Noctis frowned too.

"Isn't it enough? That he tried to kill me? Isn't that a good enough reason to be scared? To feel awkward around Gladio?" Prompto pouted.

"Yeah..." Noctis breathed. "It's- I mean, of course. That's more than enough Prompto. I'm sorry... I just..."

"It's okay..." Prompto whispered. "Just... I don't want to go into more detail. That's basically all that happened. I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." Noctis nodded, feeling that his friend had pretty much admitted just then that something more had happened. "If you ever do want to talk-"

"I don't. Thank you, Noct... I get that you're all trying to be supportive, and I feel bad closing myself off and being a jerk, but I just don't want to go on and on and relive this and-" Prompto started.

"It's fine." Noctis cut him off. "I shouldn't have kept asking. Okay? I respect that it's your choice. You don't ever have to tell me anything more if you don't want to. It's up to you."

"Okay." Prompto breathed, suddenly leaning in and hugging his arms around Noctis's shoulders.

Noctis closed his eyes and hugged his friend back. He wished there was something more he could do. He wished Prompto would tell him everything weighing on his heart right now... But he supposed offering support and physical comfort was better than nothing. It was all he could do for now.

xxxxxx


	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

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Gladio frowned as he walked a fair distance behind Noctis and Prompto, with Ignis walking closer to him, practically by his side. He was honestly starting to feel bitter about all of this mess. It was all completely out of his control. Prompto was clearly scared of him, and it just wasn't fair. Gladio understood why the boy was nervous, but it honestly sucked.

Noctis and Prompto walked in the front, close together, talking quietly. They had been sticking together a lot lately, ever since Gladio had tried and failed to teach Prompto some defense techniques yesterday. He felt like an idiot for how he had approached that. He thought Prompto was pretty much fine by that point. He hadn't realized the kid was still so scared. He really wished he hadn't ever tried to train with him. The timing was awful, and it had probably done a hell of a lot more harm than good.

Prompto seemed entirely comfortable around the prince though, leaning in close to speak to him so that they wouldn't be overheard, not flinching back when Noctis's arm brushed against his. Prompto even let Noctis put his arm around his shoulders... He would never let Gladio do that. Not now. And this morning, the younger man had been sleeping snuggled up against Ignis. Everything was fine between him and Iggy, between him and Noct. He just didn't trust Gladio anymore. While Gladio understood why, he didn't like it.

Prompto had become like a little brother to him. Gladio would do anything to keep Prompto safe, to make sure he was okay. He honestly loved Prompto like a brother, was protective of him, supportive, wanting the best in the world for him. The fact that the boy wouldn't let him come near him anymore without flinching or shrinking away was heartbreaking.

"This will take time, Gladio." Ignis spoke in a low voice as they walked nearly side-by-side. Ignis had a way about him where he seemed to be able to tell what people were thinking just by quietly observing them. He must have noticed Gladio's expression as he walked, staring at Prompto and Noctis. "I see you're hurting over this, and I know you fully sympathize with Prompto, with his fear... There's not much more we can do from here but wait."

"Yeah." Gladio grumbled. "I just wish there were something I could do to reassure him that I'd never do anything to him. That I'd never hurt him. I'd do anything for you guys, to keep you all safe..."

"I know. He knows too. It's an odd situation." Ignis frowned. "Like a nightmare he actually had to live through. You were unfortunately a piece of that nightmare, and he's not sure how to feel about that I'm sure."

Gladio shook his head. "It just sucks, Iggy. It honestly fucking sucks. I'd lay down my life to protect you guys... I would die for any one of you, including him. And he's scared to even train with me. He's scared to walk near me."

Ignis exhaled and forced a small, sad smile, patting Gladio on the arm. "He won't always be."

"Should I talk to him?" Gladio frowned. "I don't want to be forceful... I don't want to make him talk to me if he doesn't want to. I don't want to get too close and scare him, but I do want him to know everything's okay... That I'm not mad at him... That I get it... But I want him to know it's okay if he needs space, and that he's just gotta tell me if I'm making him nervous. I don't want things more awkward than they have to be. Should I bring it up? Or just hang back..."

Ignis shrugged. "As long as you're careful with the subject - choose your tone and words carefully... The way you've just phrased it to me was beautiful, Gladio. Just tell him how you feel. Be honest, delicate... He may benefit a lot from hearing it. We could stop for lunch up here to give you two a chance to talk alone. I could busy Noct with helping me cut vegetables."

"He'll hate that." Gladio smirked.

"I know." Ignis laughed. "He's not very good at it, but I have a theory he's doing poorly on purpose so I won't ask him again... It's not going to work."

"Can't be that hard to chop up carrots. He's playing you, Iggy." Gladio agreed.

"Men. Let's stop here!" Ignis called out, drawing the attention of Prompto and Noctis from ahead. "We'll make lunch, rest for a bit, then continue onward. Noct. I need your help with lunch."

"Uggh." Noctis's shoulders slumped. "Seriously? I made breakfast..."

"Which is why it's clear you need some more practice." Ignis raised his eyebrows and smirked slightly.

"Yikes... That's harsh, Iggy." Prompto grimaced.

Gladio smiled as he watched his friends banter back and forth. With just the three of them talking, everything seemed normal. It still broke Gladio's heart knowing that Prompto didn't feel normal around him anymore though. Things were only normal among the group if Gladio stayed back and didn't get involved - at least as far as Prompto was concerned.

For a moment, Gladio hung back, watching as Prompto wandered a bit away, looking at the stream they had stopped near. The boy picked up a stone and tossed it in, staring at the place where it had sunk.

"Hey, Prompto..." Gladio spoke, keeping his voice as calm and even as possible as he made his way over. He sat down on a boulder, making sure Prompto wouldn't feel cornered, as the smaller man was still standing, able to leave quickly if he felt he had to.

"Hey, Gladio." Prompto smiled slightly as he glanced in Gladio's direction. "It's nice out today, huh? It's warm, but not hot. Breezy without being windy. It's like perfect. Would be a nice day to go fishing... If I liked fishing."

"Yeah." Gladio smiled back. Prompto was always so optimistic. That was his greatest strength in Gladio's eyes - that he usually stayed positive even when he was scared or nervous - maybe even especially then. Sometimes it made it hard to tell what he was really thinking though. His mind likely wasn't only on the breeze and sunshine.

"Sorry about earlier..." Prompto stuck his lower lip out slightly and looked toward Gladio. "I know I kinda ditched you at the cave... I wasn't trying to like... tell you no, and not do what you thought we should do... I mean, I was gonna... Just, Noct-"

"That's okay. Noct was right. You did good sneaking in with him." Gladio nodded, choosing not to make Prompto explain himself on that one. Gladio could tell he was nervous about splitting up and partnering with him. He knew what the problem was as soon as it happened. "You really did do a good job on that, surprisingly..." He laughed. "You know how to be quiet when it counts."

"Yeah." Prompto laughed breathlessly. "I do know how to shut up sometimes. It's hard to do, but I manage."

Gladio frowned. "Are you and I okay?" He finally blurted.

Prompto blinked, seemingly taken off guard by the question. "Yeah..." He whispered, suddenly looking quite nervous. "Why? Are you... Is something wrong?" The younger man grimaced, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"No pressure... It's fine..." Gladio back pedaled. "I understand why you'd be hesitant to go off alone with me after what Ardyn did. I'm not that dense. I get it. I don't want to force you to be around me if you're not feeling it and you don't need to pretend everything's okay when it's not. I won't even be mad or blame you for keeping your distance. I'm not trying to be-"

"No. It's fine. Gladio, I'm anxious as hell." Prompto laughed breathlessly. "I might not always seem to be, but I'm like completely fucking nervous constantly these days. I know it's not fair... You didn't do anything, and I know that. Any time I get nervous around you, I just tell myself to chill out, because I know it's not rational. I'm trying to be normal."

"Since when have you ever been normal?" Gladio joked.

Prompto finally offered a genuine smile, something Gladio hadn't seen from him in a while.

"Prompto..." Gladio exhaled, closed his eyes for a moment, and shook his head. "I just want to know I'm doing everything I can to help here. I get that you're nervous. I understand why... I'm not upset with you for being scared of me. I know it might take time for you to kinda remember to trust me..."

"No..." Prompto shook his head, sitting down next to Gladio and putting his hand on the larger man's forearm. "I trust you still... You're one of my very best friends, part of the only family I've ever felt like I had... Gladio..." Prompto looked up at him with the start of tears in his eyes.

"Prompto, please don't cry..." Gladio frowned, feeling his breath catch in his throat.

"I trust you, Gladio." Prompto whispered, wrapping his arms around his friend and laying his head against the man's chest. "You're like my big brother, and I trust you with my life. It's like my own mind that's throwing me off... Dreams, thoughts, memories of Ardyn, looking like you... You're not the problem here. I am."

Gladio exhaled, closing his eyes again and hugging his arms around Prompto's shoulders. He felt so grateful in this moment, to be able to hold his friend close. Prompto wasn't acting like he was scared - not yet at least... Maybe things really would be okay. Maybe getting back to normal truly was possible, maybe even close to happening now.

"It wasn't you, Gladio. I know that." Prompto whispered. "And I still trust you. Even without the stupid code word...I can tell it's you... I know you."

Gladio smiled, resting his cheek against Prompto's hair, then backing up out of their embrace enough to look down and see the smaller man's face. "You're not the problem here either, kid. It's only Ardyn. You know that, right?"

Prompto shrugged. "Ardyn's been gone for two days. I'm still having fucked up dreams, freaking out when you look at me the wrong way." He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, because of him." Gladio frowned.

Prompto exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, I know..."

"I'm sorry you're scared, Prompto." Gladio still had one arm around Prompto's shoulders, hugging the younger man against his side. "And I'm really sorry he tricked you by making himself look like me. I'm sorry trusting me backfired that night... It sucks that he did something so messed up."

"Yeah. It does." Prompto agreed, laying his head against Gladio's shoulder and closing his eyes. "I've really gotta sort out my head, though, Gladio. I haven't been sleeping worth a damn. Had Iggy acting like a mom this morning, practically rocking me to sleep like I was a little kid."

"Iggy's always been like a mom." Gladio laughed. "You'll catch cold if you don't wear your jacket." Gladio mimicked Ignis's voice as best as he could.

Prompto looked up at Gladio and smirked. "He says that exact thing, like every day!"

"Yeah. He does..." Gladio laughed.

"Like, man... I love you, and thanks, but I'm a grown ass man. I know when to wear a jacket..." Prompto laughed. "Though I do forget it a lot..." He added with narrowed eyes.

"Poor Iggy has to try to take care of all of us... We're like a bunch of damn kids, huh?" Gladio smiled.

"Yeah." Prompto smiled. "I do appreciate him."

"Doesn't mean we can't make fun of him though, huh? He's making Noctis cut up vegetables solely because he thinks Noct did a bad job on purpose so he wouldn't have to do it again." Gladio told him.

"He did do a bad job on purpose." Prompto stared up with wide eyes. "He told me."

"Well, that backfired. Now Iggy's trying to tell him he needs more practice." Gladio explained.

"What are they making?" Prompto wondered.

"Something with cut up vegetables. I dunno." Gladio shrugged. "You wanna go see?"

"Cautiously... So we don't have to help. If he asks for help, I'm gonna run off." Prompto laughed, standing up and leading the way back toward where Noct and Ignis were working.

"Just tell him you left your jacket down by the water and have to go get it. He'll support that excuse." Gladio laughed.

"Yeah he will. He loves jackets." Prompto smirked as they neared the campsite. "Hey, Gladio... Who am I?" He raised his fingers up toward his nose, pretending to push up imaginary glasses. "I've discovered a new recipe!" He shouted in his best Ignis-accent.

"Excuse me." Ignis narrowed his eyes and glared at them as they both started to laugh.

"Glad to see someone's having fun." Noctis complained as he continued working on cutting up carrots.

"Get 'em right this time, Noct." Gladio jeered.

"Practice makes perfect." Prompto added.

"I know of two more people who need just as much practice, if not more." Ignis raised his eyebrows.

Prompto's eyes widened as he snapped his mouth closed. "I forgot my jacket." He ran back off toward the water.

Gladio shrugged and sat down, knowing Ignis wasn't going to ask him to help cook. It would be a mistake. Gladio wasn't good at detailed work like that and Ignis knew it.

"You're a good friend, Gladio." Ignis smiled and briefly nodded toward him before looking back at Noctis's work. "Thin slices, Noct. No one's going to want a chunk of carrot the side of their fist in their soup."

"I've got it." Noctis complained, turning his body slightly so Ignis couldn't see how he was chopping.

Gladio exhaled and smiled slightly as he glanced toward the stream, spotting Prompto peeking out from behind a rock. He shook his head. Ignis wasn't going to make him cut vegetables. The man had enough of an extra hassle with Noctis 'helping.'

It was good to start to feel like things were moving back toward normal. Ignis was cooking, Noctis was complaining about having to help, Prompto was being over-the-top... If he hadn't known any better, Galdio would have thought noting happened at all. In this moment, it felt like perhaps everything was going to be okay.

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	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

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"Noct. May I speak with you for a moment?" Ignis asked as Noctis was making his way past the older man.

"Sure." Noctis nodded, following his friend outside and around the side of the building. They had stopped at a motel for the night, and for the first time in a while, Noctis at least was feeling a bit more at ease than usual.

After Prompto's incident with Ardyn, things had been a little off around the group. Prompto was quiet. Gladio was quiet... The two were tense around each other, and Ignis and Noctis were trying to make up for it by talking more than their usual minimal responses and anecdotes. The entire dynamic of the group had shifted quite uncomfortably.

But today after Noctis and Prompto explored the cave and met back up with Ignis and Gladio, they walked for a bit and then stopped for lunch. Gladio and Prompto seemed to have had a good conversation and things had seemed a little more normal than yesterday and this morning. Prompto had made a few jokes. Gladio had made fun of him - which was good considering Gladio seemed scared to say much of anything to the smaller man for a full day... Prompto and Gladio had even decided to share a room tonight. Prompto may have been forcing himself to pretend he wasn't nervous about it, but he did it, and it seemed like a potential step in the right direction. Before long, Prompto would remember why he trusted Gladio in the first place. Sharing rooms, going on quests with him, having each other's backs... Prompto would remember that Gladio was one hundred percent on his side.

Things were still a bit odd, a bit tense... but closer to normal after today. No one expected Prompto to just bounce back fully without feeling a bit anxiety after what he experienced, but he seemed to be getting there. They were on the right track. With any luck, Ardyn would stay away and the situation would become a distant memory before long.

It wasn't quite dark yet as Ignis led Noctis outside, but it was close. The sun was low and evening was in full swing. They could still see each other outside, so it was fine to talk out here... but the fact that Ignis had made sure they were far enough away from everyone else so as to not be overheard was making him a bit nervous.

"What is it?" Noctis frowned, almost wanting to ask Ignis for the code word to confirm he wasn't getting himself into a similar situation to what Prompto fell into. Now that he was here questioning his friend's identity himself, however, he realized why it was so awkward to ask for confirmation. It was kind of potentially insulting, to imply to your friends that you didn't believe they were really themselves.

Ignis closed his eyes and exhaled. "I've got more of the story on what happened with Prompto a couple nights ago. I felt he and Gladio were holding back, but didn't want to force answers, so I didn't ask after being brushed off in my first attempt. I was given vague refusals to elaborate... But Gladio offered it up freely to me earlier today - when you and Prompto were checking that cave. I'm not sure what swayed him, but he did say he thought we should all know, so I'm passing it along to you. It does seem relevant information, though I'm hardly surprised by it. It's close to my initial guess..."

"Really?" Noctis frowned. He had felt like Prompto was holding back when he explained too, but also didn't want to ask too many questions and make his friend uncomfortable or angry. Prompto was so closed off about it, so much more defensive than he had ever seen the young man act about anything.

"Yes, unfortunately..." Ignis forced a small half-smile, then shook his head slightly and frowned.

"What more happened?" Noctis whispered. He felt his heart rate quicken in his chest. There was really only one possibility of what it could be... One other thing beyond mindless physical violence and possible attempted murder... and it fit with Prompto's behavior. It fit with Gladio's too. The man was so awkward around Prompto these past few days.

"Ardyn did make himself look like Gladio... None of what they told us was a lie exactly... Just not the full truth either. There was a lot more to it than the quick attack Prompto and Gladio would have you believe." Ignis explained. "He lured Prompto out into the woods, as they both admitted, but the attack wasn't only physical. It wasn't necessarily quick. He didn't just hit Prompto and try to choke him... It was a lot more personal, more intimate. I know now why Prompto has been so affected by it."

Noctis felt his breath catch in his throat. He had wondered if perhaps Ardyn tried something more than just run of the mill violence. Prompto had seemed very personally hurt by the whole event... but then, even just living through it honestly believing it was Gladio had to have been emotionally painful. Gladio was so strong, so capable of inflicting pain, but they all trusted the man with their lives. For Prompto to have innocently followed the larger man out into the darkness and then had his friend turn on him so brutally had to have been devastating before he realized it wasn't really him.

"What happened, Ignis?" Noctis whispered. "Just tell me..." A part of him really didn't want to hear it, wanted to respect the fact that Prompto obviously didn't want him to know, but a larger part of him needed to know. He needed to know how bad it was, so he wouldn't always fear that it had been even worse. He needed reassurance that what happened to his friend wasn't as bad as it could have been. He hoped it wasn't at least...

"It could have been a lot worse. Gladio did find him and save him before the worst of it... But Ardyn was attempting to disrobe him. He held Prompto down, forced a kiss on him, let his hands wander..." Ignis explained. "It was rough. Terrifying for Prompto I'm sure. Ardyn didn't progress too far, but not for a lack of trying."

"Poor Prompto." Noctis whispered, picturing the scene in his head. Prompto was so quick and agile. He was a good fighter in terms of being fast and precise, striking quickly and moving out of range just as fast... But he wasn't all that strong physically. He was fairly small - shorter even than Noctis... and he was so trusting of everyone in their group. If he thought it was Gladio there with him, he may have nervously let things go further than he would have if he knew it was Ardyn. Maybe he trusted Gladio so much that he simply couldn't believe the other man was doing what he was clearly doing. Maybe he took a while to even ask him to stop, if only because he was so confused by it..

"Gladio says he was very upset, crying, scared... He was definitely confused - wouldn't even talk to Gladio at first. I think he was still wondering if it was Gladio who attacked him, and was understandably frightened still when the real Gladio arrived on the scene. But it definitely wasn't as bad as it could have been. Gladio seems to have found him just in time." Ignis went on.

Noctis felt tears in his eyes. Prompto was such a kind, sweet, caring and trusting person. He wasn't strong, would have probably been scared to fight back at first if only because he didn't want to hurt Gladio - even knowing he was barely capable of doing so. It made Noctis feel sick just to think about it - about his painfully innocent little friend being lured out into the dark, rainy night, thinking Gladio was taking him somewhere harmless. The poor young man had to have been so fucking scared, so heartbroken when the person he was so sure was his friend started trying to hurt him, pinning him down, trying to force himself on him. Noctis wondered what Prompto did during that. Did he fight back? Did he beg to be let go? Did he cry? How long did he believe it was Gladio? How long did he suffer through all of that honestly believing one of his best friends, one of the people he trusted most in the world, was trying to sexually assault him?

"I wish he would have told me... He knows we'd all be supportive..." Noctis whispered. He felt so bad for his friend trying to push all this down and refusing their support. Noctis would have been even more careful with Prompto than he already had been if he had known. "You said Ardyn was trying to undress him... letting his hands wander... Ignis... How far did it go? Did he..." Noctis started, finding he was unable to fully ask the obvious question.

"He didn't." Ignis answered, knowing what Noct meant to ask. "He was trying to pull down his pants when Gladio finally got there. He really barely touched him in that way. It seems he mostly managed to subdue him and was moving toward the sexual aspect, but didn't get far and certainly didn't get to the worst of his plans. He was getting there, but he didn't quite. It was stopped in time to avoid serious injury befalling Prompto. But still, it had to have been horrible for the poor boy. Even just knowing what was coming."

"Yeah..." Noctis nodded.

"I just thought you should know." Ignis shrugged. "I respect that Prompto didn't want to tell us the gritty details... but since Gladio told me, I didn't want you to be the only one in the dark on this. It may help if you talk to him about it. I know he's closing himself off from us, but it would probably do him good to finally let it all out. And if he'll talk to anyone, I assume it'd be you. It can't feel good for him to keep everything to himself like this."

"Okay." Noctis nodded again. "Thank you for telling me, Ignis." He forced a small smile.

"See you inside." Ignis clapped him on the shoulder and headed back in.

Exhaling a calming breath, closing his eyes for a moment, then blinking them back open, Noctis straightened his posture and headed back in. He needed to talk to Prompto. To reassure his friend that none of this was his fault, that he had everyone's support... that no one was going to think any less or any differently of him from here.

"Prom..." Noctis whispered as he headed inside the motel and found his friend standing in the lobby, looking at a painting on the wall.

"Do you think this painting's of a real place, Noct?" Prompto asked, still staring at it with his head cocked to the side and his eyes narrowed.

Noctis frowned and looked up at it. It was a very cheerful scene, with a bright sunny sky, a rainbow, mountains, a waterfall. "I dunno." He shrugged. "I guess it could be. Looks nice... Maybe we could ask the guy at the front desk. If it's real, we could go someday. See it for ourselves."

"Yeah?" Prompto smiled as he turned around. The bruises on his cheek and neck were starting to change colors, starting to fade... The one around his nose was looking better too. But they were still there. Reminders of what had happened, reminders that though Prompto was smiling and joking like he always did on the outside, on the inside, he was probably hurting.

"Can I talk to you?" Noctis asked. "Maybe in one of the rooms?"

Prompto's eyes seemed to darken as his smile fell, but he remained silent. Maybe he was nervous that Noctis was asking to talk to him alone... Maybe that's what Ardyn said when he disguised himself as Gladio. He looked like he wanted to question Noctis's authenticity in this moment, but he also looked positively terrified to do so, maybe worried he'd offend his friend.

Noctis leaned in closer to his friend's ear, forcing himself to ignore the small gasp Prompto breathed out as the younger man tensed. "Code word's chocobo." Noctis whispered, then leaned back.

Prompto let out a nervous exhale, followed by a slight laugh. "Y-you didn't have to... The code word thing's kinda dumb... I maybe like over-reacted, making it out like... I mean... I know you... I knew it was really you..." He rambled.

"It's fine. Come talk." Noctis smiled, leading his friend outside and toward the room Noctis and Ignis were set to share this evening.

Noctis made his way inside, sitting down on the end of the bed and holding his breath until Prompto sat down next to him. He smiled slightly, glad to see Prompto still trusted him enough to sit so close.

"Hey." Noctis spoke in a small voice. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah?" Prompto laughed nervously. "W-what's goin' on, Noct?"

Noctis inhaled a steady breath, exhaling and turning toward Prompto, taking his hand in his own and holding it gently. "I know what happened... With Ardyn the other night."

Prompto's shoulders slumped and he opened his mouth as though to say something, but quickly snapped it back closed. He looked so nervous. It made Noctis feel immediately terrible, uncertain about his decision to say something. Maybe confronting him on this wasn't the best plan... Maybe he should have just let Prompto think he didn't know... But he wanted to offer his support. He wanted Prompto to know Noctis was here for him, that he didn't blame him or think less of him. Prompto needed to know everyone was still on his side, here if he wanted to talk... Here even if he just needed someone to sit with, to be in his presence, to put his mind at ease however he needed.

"It's okay, Prompto... No one thinks it's your fault. It's a reflection of Ardyn, not you. There was nothing you could have done differently. This is fully on Ardyn - not you. But we're all here for you. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want, but you have our support and if-" Noctis started, kind of rambling more than he intended. The way Prompto was staring at him had Noctis entirely unsure of what to say.

"What..." Prompto finally stammered, looking nervously around the room like he was plotting his escape before focusing back on Noctis and shaking his head. "W-what do you mean?" He breathed. "Wh- What are you like... even talking about, Noct?" He whispered, shrinking down slightly.

Noctis swallowed, starting to feel quite nervous himself. "Ignis told me... What Ardyn did. I won't repeat it... We don't ever need to talk about if if you don't want to - I mean, we can. I'm here if you want to talk... I know you probably don't want to talk about it. That's okay. I don't need you to... I just-"

"Ignis told you?" Prompto interrupted, looking legitimately quite hurt.

"Yes." Noctis nodded, feeling his heart beating faster in his chest. Prompto looked so scared, so betrayed. "He's just trying to be supportive... And I'm not mad that you didn't tell me. I understand wh-"

"Ignis told you?" Prompto said again, shaking his head as tears welled up in his eyes. "It... It's not true... It... that didn't happen. It wasn't like that..." He stammered. "Ignis doesn't know anything. He wasn't there... Noct, he wasn't even there... How could he think he even knows? He's just guessing. He's been asking me if there was more... I didn't tell him anyth- No... He thinks he knows more than he really does. He guessed, and he didn't guess right. He's wrong..."

Noctis stared, for a moment speechless. He hadn't even said out loud what Ignis told him. Prompto was unintentionally confirming every word of it just by being so incredibly defensive. "Prompto... It's okay... I know maybe you wanted to keep this to yourself... And I'm sorry it came out in any other time but your own. I mean, ideally you would have told us at your own pace, but I think it'll be better in the long run that it's out in the open. No one blames you or thinks less of you. You're not at fault here. I'm not telling you this to put blame on your or to demand a full explanation of it all. I just want you to know I'm here for you. We all are. We all support you and-"

"He's lying..." Prompto whispered, his voice shaking as tears threatened to spill over. His lower lip trembled as he stared wide-eyed back at Noctis. "That didn't happen..." He breathed, shaking his head. "Ardyn didn't do that. He just hit me..."

"Okay..." Noctis breathed, feeling he may have made a huge mistake just now. Prompto wasn't ready to talk about this - clearly. And Noctis sure as hell wasn't ready to argue with his friend about it. He wasn't going to try to force Prompto to acknowledge this if the younger man didn't want to.

"He didn't, Noctis." Prompto whimpered, seeming increasingly out of breath. "He tricked me into following him. Then he turned around and hit me, choked me, and ran off when Gladio got there. That's it. He didn't touch me. B-besides hitting... It wasn't... Like... It wasn't that..."

Noctis continued staring nervously, wondering if maybe he should just claim to believe his friend and give him more space. Forcing this conversation likely wouldn't do anyone any favors. Allowing Prompto to continue denying it all and not properly dealing with it wasn't ideal, but forcing him to talk about it wasn't the answer here.

"I shouldn't have said anything..." Noctis shook his head. "Prompto, I'm sorry... M-maybe Ignis got the wrong idea... I-" He spoke in a low voice, quite unsure how to backpedal, whether doing so was even a good idea.

"I didn't..." Prompto's voice wavered again. "Gladio wasn't supposed to tell anyone..." He whispered.

Noctis shook his head again, wrapping his arms around Prompto as his friend leaned toward him. "I'm sorry... I guess it's not my place... You weren't ready to talk about this... Maybe I shouldn't have said anything... You didn't want me to know, and I knew that... I shouldn't have have forced you to talk about it..." He whispered, hugging his arms around Prompto as he felt his friend's body shaking with soft sobs. "Prompto, I'm sorry... I won't make any assumptions or believe any detail without you being the one to confirm it, okay? You were the only one there. You're the only one who knows what happened. I know nothing until you tell me, alright?"

"It wasn't his secret to tell... He promised..." Prompto breathed, his voice shaking with tears.

Noctis closed his eyes and exhaled as he hugged his arms securely around his friend. Prompto didn't deserve all of this. Not even a little. He could feel his friend's shoulders shaking as the younger man continued sobbing. "You're okay, Prompto... I'm so sorry this all happened... But you're alright now. We don't ever have to talk about this if you don't want to." He offered.

Prompto shook his head. "I wouldn't have had to if Gladio just kept his mouth shut." He whispered between shaky sniffs.

"I know you're probably mad at him..." Noctis whispered. "And I'm not saying you have no right to be... If he said he'd not tell, and he made that promise to you, he should have kept it... But I am glad I know what happened. Prompto, you shouldn't have to deal with this alone. If I ever see Ardyn again... Man... I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm so mad... He had no right to touch you... and to pose as Gladio and hurt you that way too..."

"I just wanted to move on. It wasn't a big deal. Now it is..." Prompto whispered, leaning his head against Noctis's collar.

"It was always a big deal, Prompto. You just didn't want to think about it... But you're clearly still scared. You'll hardly even talk to Gladio. Things aren't okay." Noctis noted. "I can't say I have a solution, but this is definitely a big deal, and we've gotta figure it out."

"I had it figured out." Prompto breathed, his voice starting to shake again as fresh tears welled up in his eyes. "I was just gonna force myself to hang out with Gladio until I forgot what fake-Gladio did and had enough fresh memories of real-Gladio not hurting me... But he hurt me anyway. Not physically... B-but I put trust in him when I told him what happened, and when he said he wouldn't tell..."

Noctis nodded slightly. He understood why Prompto felt betrayed by Gladio right now, but he also believed Gladio's heart was in the right place. "He probably didn't mean to hurt you by letting it slip. I'll bet he's just really worried about you. He probably isn't sure how to deal with this on his own and asked Ignis for help." Noctis guessed.

"That's why I didn't want anyone else to know." Prompto sobbed. "Everyone's gonna treat me weird, act worried and walk around me like I'm a fragile, weak idiot... I'm so stupid. This wouldn't have happened to anyone else. He knew I was the dumb, weak, naive idiot who would fall for it. He seriously just woke me up, told me to walk out into the woods with him... And I'm so dumb I just did it."

"You're not weak..." Noctis spoke, rubbing his hand over his friend's arm. "You're not stupid or naive. No one thinks that. It's not being naive to trust your friends. You had every reason to think it was Gladio asking you to go with him. If Gladio woke me up and said there was something important we had to attend to, I'd have gone too. Ignis would have. We trust each other. That's a good thing. We're supposed to. And in a way you're stronger than any of us... You're so optimistic, no matter what - even when everyone else feels hopeless or just pissed off for whatever reason... You're still there making jokes, trying to cheer up everyone else. Staying positive and going on when the rest of us feel like we're close to breaking... That's a strength... Because I know in those times you want to break too."

Prompto looked up at Noctis, his lip quivering as tears rolled down his cheeks. Noctis knew everything he'd just spoken aloud was true. Prompto was so strong, and they all relied on him heavily when their moods were sour, when they felt like giving up, because even though Prompto probably wanted to swear and throw things and get mad and yell at everyone in those times, he didn't. He kept calm. He was good at that - staying calm when his friends weren't - when they were mad or on-edge... He picked up their slack - as they did back for him where he was lacking.

"That's why we make such a great team, the four of us... We balance each other out. We have different strengths. None is more or less valid than the next." Noctis went on. "Gladio doesn't do emotions well. That's not his strength. He needed someone else's help. He didn't mean to hurt you by telling Ignis. I know he didn't."

Prompto shook his head and sniffed, but didn't say anything more.

"I won't treat you different. Don't think I called you in here to tell you I feel sorry for you." Noctis spoke, even though he did feel sorry for his friend. So, so sorry that he had had to suffer through the fear and betrayal of for a moment thinking Gladio was attacking him. "I just want you to know I'm here. If you want to talk, if you don't... Nothing's going to change between us. But I do support you, and I will be here. Either way. Just like always. Nothing has to change."

"Okay." Prompto whispered. "Thank you, Noct."

Noctis forced a small smile and nodded, resting his chin against Prompto's hair as he continued hugging his friend close. Prompto wasn't making any move to break their embrace, and Noctis sure as hell wasn't going to let go unless Prompto made him.

Noctis's heart hurt thinking about Prompto being in that position, about his sweet, innocent friend thinking Gladio was taking him out into the dark woods... He'd probably been confused, but still so painfully trusting, following his attacker willingly out into the secluded darkness, having no idea, no reason to think harm would befall him.

It must have been absolutely devastating for the younger man when it appeared that Gladio turned on him. Gladio was pretty intimidating to anyone who didn't know him - or to anyone he was presently angry with. Even Noctis had at times sort of wondered if the guy might punch him when he got mad... But even though Gladio did have a temper, he never got outright violent. Prompto had to have been heartbroken.

Closing his eyes as he kept Prompto hugged securely against him, Noctis inhaled a slow breath. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Prom." He whispered.

Prompto nodded. "I know. I am too." He agreed.

"We won't let that creep near us again, Prompto." Noctis promised. "I'll make sure of it."

"That's the problem though, Noct. We can't be sure..." Prompto whispered.

Noctis swallowed. Prompto was right, and that thought was terrifying.

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	11. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

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The motel they were staying in tonight only had rooms with one bed in each, and unfortunately, before Gladio pissed him off, Prompto had agreed to share a room with him. After this morning when he had accidentally declined to go with Gladio on their little cave mission, Prompto was going out of his way to try to get back to normal, to prove to Gladio that he wasn't scared of him, even though he kind of was. He knew it wasn't logical. It wasn't fair... But a part of him did feel nervous being around the larger man.

He realized Ardyn had tricked him, that Gladio hadn't hurt him at all... But even so, for a painfully long five or ten minutes, Prompto experienced what looked, sounded, and felt like his friend pinning him down, forcing him to kiss him, groping all over his body, mocking him, hitting and choking him... It was Gladio in that moment. Even if it wasn't really, Prompto couldn't stop reliving it in his head. How scary it had been, how heartbroken he was when he thought it was Gladio... He had had dreams about it, dreams that the real Gladio was hurting him, and that he didn't ever change back to Ardyn.

Ever since that night, when he looked at Gladio, he thought of how powerful the man really was - how capable he was of hurting someone if he wanted to. He was so much bigger than Prompto. So much taller, stronger... If he did want to do what Ardyn did, it would be easy. He could choke Prompto into unconsciousness just by pinning one arm against his neck. That's what Ardyn nearly did - and in the moment, it looked like Gladio. The real Gladio could do it too if he wanted to...

A part of him wondered if Gladio really could be capable of something like that. Maybe that's why he fell for it in the first place. Maybe he wouldn't have believed it so easily if it were someone more gentle like Ignis or someone he was closer to like Noctis. Gladio did get mad pretty easily. He liked things done his way and didn't do well taking orders from anyone else or being told no. He was loud, assertive, dominant, strong... If he did want to do something like that with someone who said no...

Prompto blinked and shook his head quietly to himself. Gladio wouldn't force someone into a sexual encounter. He just wouldn't. It didn't matter that he was strong and powerful and that he was physically capable of being forceful and violent. He wouldn't do it. He knew it wasn't fair to even propose the idea in his mind... Gladio hadn't ever in the time Prompto knew him done anything that would lead him to believe the man would do something like that. He had a temper. He'd get frustrated or angry... but he never ever actually hurt anyone.

Purely because he knew it wasn't fair of him to keep his distance, he had casually suggested he and Gladio share a room, even though he actually didn't want to. He wished he hadn't now. Maybe Prompto pretending everything was fine was seen by the older man as an invitation to tell everyone everything, to act like none of it mattered. Prompto didn't want to share a room with him now.

Fortunately, everyone else was up late talking in the lobby. That meant Prompto wouldn't have to go be alone with Gladio any time too soon... but the more Prompto sat there with everyone, letting them talk without interruption, without his usual frequent input, the more tense he felt. He needed to talk to Gladio. He needed to know why the man had let his secret spill when he thought they were on the same page. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it just slipped out in conversation and Gladio truly didn't mean to say anything... But it was such an important secret to keep. Prompto thought so anyway.

Prompto waited until Ignis and Noctis got on the topic of fish - fishing, and cooking fish, all things neither Gladio nor Prompto had much to say about, to walk over to Gladio. He knew he would feel mad and betrayed until they got this sorted out... And Prompto hated feeling angry. He wanted everyone to be friends again. He wanted things to be normal.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Prompto asked, keeping his voice low, hoping Noctis and Ignis wouldn't notice, wouldn't catch on that Prompto really wanted to scream at the larger man right now. No one else needed to know how angry Prompto felt. Even Gladio didn't need to know how angry he was so long as they talked it out and Prompto could leave the conversation somehow feeling less betrayed.

"Alone?" Gladio frowned.

Prompto swallowed nervously and quickly nodded, feeling nerves working up in his chest. He hated confronting people. Especially Gladio, who was so blunt and assertive himself. Gladio didn't like to be argued with, and Prompto certainly didn't like to argue. What was he going to do if Gladio just laughed it off? Acted like he didn't understand why he shouldn't have told?

"Well... What's the code word?" Gladio smirked.

Prompto felt his shoulders slump and his mouth fall into a frown. Now wasn't really the time to make light of this situation. Gladio had to have seen that Prompto was nervous right now, that he wasn't in the mood to joke around. He no doubt looked like nothing but a walking ball of nerves.

"Can't be too safe..." Gladio laughed, hitting Prompto playfully against his shoulder.

"To hell with the fucking code word." Prompto hissed, gritting his teeth together, choosing now to stand up for himself, grabbing Gladio's arm in his hand and surprisingly getting the older man to stand up and willingly follow him.

"Don't get mad... Geeze, Prompto... I was joking about the code word..." Gladio noted with a frown as Prompto led the way outside and to their room, closing the door behind him and looking up at his friend. "I didn't mean to offend you. Seriously, kid... I was only joking. I thought you'd think it was funny..." Gladio frowned. "You were joking about it before... Sorry..."

"Why did you tell him? Why did you tell Ignis?" Prompto blurted immediately, cutting to the chase. He didn't want to dance around the issue here. Not now. He needed to resolve this - to understand why Gladio betrayed his secret, to communicate, once again, why it was such an issue to him that he had told... Maybe all he wanted was an apology. That seemed the only thing Gladio could offer him at this point, as he couldn't exactly take back his words.

"Tell Ignis what?" Gladio frowned.

"About what happened!" Prompto heard his voice raising. He was practically yelling. "About Ardyn, what he did... You said you'd keep it between us! That you wouldn't tell the others... I told you not to tell them and you promised you wouldn't. You said you'd be vague - that you'd keep the worst part out of it. Why would you tell him? It wasn't your secret to tell, Gladio!"

"I didn't..." Gladio stared, looking honestly somewhat shocked at the accusation. If Prompto didn't know any better, he may have even believed the man. "I didn't tell him, Prompto. Maybe he guessed. He asked me this morning if there was something I wasn't telling him. I told him he'd have to ask you... That I wasn't there... Maybe I should have just flat out said no... He must have guessed..."

"No he didn't, Gladio! You told him! Noct told me, that Ignis told him what happened... and that you were the one who told Ignis. What, is Ignis just lying? Why would he do that? And how would Ignis know what to tell Noct if you didn't tell him?! Because I sure didn't tell him! I don't think he'd just guess and tell Noct like it was a confirmed fact." Prompto growled.

Gladiolus raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "I don't know, kid... Ignis is pretty perceptive. If anyone could figure it out, it'd be him. Maybe he seriously just guessed based on how you've been acting."

"Oh, how I've been acting? Yeah... I've been acting so fucking unreasonable... Sure. Blame it all on me. I'm acting weird. Everybody's fine with all this except me. Who cares that Ardyn can just morph into whoever he wants, lead people out into the woods and molest them. If it didn't happen to you, then who gives a damn? I'm the one acting weird. I'm the one making everything suck for everyone else-" Prompto started.

"Prompto, stop." Gladio glared, reaching out toward his younger friend's arm.

"Don't touch me." Prompto growled, swatting the older man's hand away.

"I didn't mean that you don't have every right to act different, to be visibly... but maybe that's how he guessed." Gladio grimaced, looking both nervous and angry at the same time. "I didn't tell anyone... And I don't think it's fair that you're treating me like I did something to you when I didn't. I said I wouldn't tell. I didn't tell. I thought we should have, but you didn't want them to know, so I kept my mouth shut. Now you're treating me like the bad guy..."

Prompto balled his hands into fists, feeling his breathing increasing in speed. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt this mad before. "I'm treating you like the bad guy because I'm fucking scared of you, Gladio! I know it's not fair, but it's the truth... I'm anxious around you, because someone who looked and sounded just like you lured me out into the woods, beat me up, and groped all over me, forcing me to kiss him, shoving his hand down my pants. He pulled them down, Gladio! He had my pants halfway down my thighs... He could see everything, and he put his hand there... Right on my skin... and he had me just like pinned there... I couldn't move. My pants were partway down... He was just holding me there... Getting ready to- getting ready..." He trailed off with a shaking whimper, biting his lip before closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Prompto..." Gladio stared, seemingly quite shocked as he took a step forward. "I understand what happened was terrifying for you... I swear I didn't say a word. I completely sympathize with you here, kid... I can only imagine how scary that had to have been..."

"Yeah. You can only imagine, Gladio... You have no fucking idea how that felt... to be pinned down by someone so much bigger and stronger than you, to have their hands all over you when you keep telling them to please fucking stop... while you're crying, begging, screaming... He did all that, looking just like you. Talking with your voice. Hurting me, keeping no secret as to what he was gonna do next... And I fucking thought it was you!" His voice shook as his breaths grew quicker and quicker. "I thought it was you, Gladio! Most of the time it was happening... I didn't understand why, but I thought you were the one doing it!"

"Prompto, please calm down..." Gladio insisted, stepping closer. "I can't do anything to take back what he did... I can't change the fact that he tricked you, using my appearance. I don't know what-"

"Get away from me!" Prompto screamed, stepping backward. "You're not gonna intimidate me into shutting up about this! You lied, Gladio! You said you wouldn't tell, and you did tell! Why would you do that? Did you think I was just making a suggestion when I told you to keep quiet about it? That it didn't really matter? He completely fucking humiliated me, scared the hell out of me, made me feel so weak and embarrassed... It was the worst fucking moment of my whole life, and you just told Ignis like it was a piece of interesting gossip... Gladio... You said you wouldn't. I trusted you with this. I didn't want to tell you the truth, and I did anyway, thinking you'd keep it to yourself. I'm so fucking mad at you... How could you!?"

Gladio grimaced, raising his hands defensively in front of him. "I know you're upset, and I get why... But just take a breath and we'll talk this out calmly... You don't have to scream. You don't have to get mad, Prompto... This isn't like you."

"Oh, it isn't? Is it uncomfortable for you, Gladio? Because I'm finally the one who's mad? I'm finally the one standing up for myself after you completely betrayed my trust?" Prompto whimpered, biting his lower lip and standing up straighter, trying to will his tears to stay back.

"It wasn't me who told him. And it wasn't me who hurt you." Gladio breathed, clearly feeling frustrated. "I get that it looked like me and you were scared... but it wasn't me. I can't help what Ardyn did. He made himself look like me. It was twisted and cruel, but I had nothing to do with it."

"To me, in that moment, it was you..." Prompto whimpered. "I'm not trying to be mean to you, Gladio, but for ten really long minutes, I thought you were attacking me. I was so scared, so heartbroken... And then you came for real and I was still scared, because I wasn't sure if it was really you, or if you were gonna hurt me again... I pushed my fear down and talked to you, told you everything even though I didn't want to say a damn word... All I wanted was for you to not tell anyone else-"

"I didn't, Prompto. I promise I didn't say a thing... I don't know what else to say..." Gladio shook his head. "Ignis probably just guessed. I can't fix what happened. I can't make you trust me again... Don't think this isn't difficult for me. I don't know what you want me to do. I don't know how I can help you at this point. I'm trying..."

"I'm sorry if I'm acting weird. I'm sorry if it's awkward for you, Gladio. It must be real tough." Prompto felt his voice shaking with angry, unshed tears. "Boy this must have been awful for you. I can't even imagine!"

"Prompto, please... I realize you went through something terrifying, confusing... I'm not saying that you have no right to-" Gladio started.

"Just shut up!" Prompto yelled. "You said you wouldn't tell... You promised. That's all that matters right now - that you said you wouldn't say anything, but you did. You told Ignis, and he told Noct. And now everyone knows, and it's your fault."

"I didn't." Gladio growled, balling his hands into fists as he glared down at Prompto, taking a step forward, nearly blocking Prompto against the wall, but not quite. "You need to take a damn breath, stop yelling, sit down, and listen to me. Hear what I'm saying to you, kid."

Swallowing as he glanced down at Gladio's huge fists, Prompto stepped back, contemplating actually listening to the man, shutting his mouth, working a way out of the room... What if Gladio actually hit him? He seemed mad... and Prompto sure as hell wasn't doing anything to calm him down. He was raising his voice, yelling... actually screaming at the man. Prompto had never behaved so aggressively, like ever...

Prompto was feeling brave today though. After all the anxiety and fear dragging him down over the past few days, he felt assertive now, bold, aggressive even. If Gladio was trying to intimidate him, it wasn't going to work. He'd either have to back down, or prove Prompto was right to feel nervous around him. "Are you gonna punch me, Gladio!? Just do it then!" He screamed, stepping toward Gladio instead of following his instinct to back away. "That's your go-to way to win arguments now? Go ahead. Punch me out. Hit me as hard as you can. That'll shut me up. It can't hurt more than what you've already done."

Gladio continued staring. His fists were still clenched and he did look like he wanted to hit his friend, but he didn't. "Prompto, you need to calm down. You're acting insane. I'm not going to hit you." He growled. "But you need to take a damn breath and calm down. Listen to me. I didn't tell anyone anything. If someone told Iggy, it wasn't me... That could only mean Ardyn's been posing as me again..."

"What, like now? You gonna blame Ardyn every time you screw up? Instead of just apologizing like a fucking adult!?" Prompto glared. "Screw this." He started turning toward the door.

"Wait!" Gladio's voice boomed, his hand grabbing at Prompto's arm and pulling him back.

"Don't!" Prompto screamed, shoving Gladio away and stumbling backward. He had honestly been taken by surprise when the man reached out and grabbed him and found he was somewhat out of breath now. He hadn't even considered that this might not even really be Gladio with him until the man brought up Ardyn himself. "Keep your hands off me! I don't know who the hell you are... If you're Ardyn... If you're Gladio... but either way, don't touch me!"

They both looked over toward the room's door when a knock sounded. "Is everything alright?" It sounded like Ignis's voice. "May I come in."

"Do whatever you want." Prompto called back, walking toward the door and opening it. He felt his tears were so close to falling. He felt so betrayed, all over again. All he asked was for Gladio to just not talk, to keep something to himself. Was that so much to ask? And the least he could have done at this point was apologize. Even that would have been enough.

"Are you two okay?" Ignis frowned. "I heard raised voices..."

"I didn't tell you anything, did I Iggy?" Gladio yelled, clearly getting increasingly angry. "About Prompto? And Ardyn... I didn't tell you..."

Ignis shook his head. "I- Gladio, you know you did..."

Prompto paused where he stood right in the door frame, between Ignis and Gladio. What the hell was he supposed to do from here? Where should he even go? He didn't want to be around anyone. Everyone knew now. It was awkward enough before everyone knew. Their friendship would probably never be the same again. No one would ever see him as anything but weak. A victim. Someone who needed guarded and taken care of like a child. A target for monsters - the human kind.

"Prompto..." Ignis spoke, his voice sounding so sad and worried it hurt Prompto even more than he already was. "You poor thing... Come here..." He put his hand on the younger man's shoulder as Prompto began to sob, hiding his face in his hands.

"It was Ardyn, Iggy. I didn't tell you anything!" Gladio kept yelling from behind them as Ignis led Prompto out of the room.

"Gladio, please give us a moment. We'll sort this out." Ignis called back

Prompto shook his head, unable to keep more tears from falling as he felt Ignis's arms around his shoulders. "You weren't supposed to know." Prompto whimpered. "Nobody was supposed to know..."

"There, there..." Ignis spoke in low, comforting words. "You'll be alright..."

Prompto keep his eyes closed as his tears kept running. Somehow he didn't feel like that was true. He wasn't sure he'd ever be alright again.

xxxxxx


	12. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

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Prompto wasn't even paying attention to where Ignis was taking him. When he had started exiting his and Gladio's room, he had wanted to be alone. He never wanted to see or talk to anyone ever again... But now that the most calm, patient, and gentle of his friends had rescued him from the heated conversation with Gladio, he sort of didn't want to ever leave the man's embrace.

So he kept his head down, sniffing back tears as he let Ignis lead the way. He didn't know what to say, if he should try to explain to Ignis what the issue was - if Ignis already knew... It wasn't like anyone could fix any of this at this point. He had gotten tricked and attacked. He was scared, paranoid, hurt... He didn't know how to make himself stop feeling this way, and now Gladio - the real Gladio - had betrayed his trust and wouldn't even admit it.

"My dear Prompto... You're such a sensitive soul... I'm so sorry this has all happened to you." Ignis told him as he lead the younger man into a different room of the motel - probably the one Ignis and Noctis were set to share. He sat down on the end of the bed, sitting Prompto down next to him and hugging his arms securely around the smaller man's shoulders.

Prompto shrunk down against the other man's chest, letting all of his sobs out. It wasn't like Ignis was going to think less of him than he already did at this point. Ignis probably thought Prompto was like a child - incapable of keeping himself safe... Emotional to the point of it being absurd... He cried like a kid whenever someone told a secret, flinched and cowered down like a scared animal whenever Gladio got near him... Prompto was acting ridiculous. He knew he was... But his heart hurt so bad right now.

"Sweetheart..." Ignis spoke in a low, calm voice as he pulled back very slightly out of their embrace and put his hand carefully on Prompto's cheek and jaw, forcing him to look up. "Did he hurt you?"

"Wh-what?" Prompto frowned, sniffing back tears and staring with confusion into Ignis's eyes.

"Gladiolus. Did he hurt you? I heard you both yelling in there. Things sounded pretty heated. He looked angry when I got there, and you're clearly upset." Ignis noted. "Did he hurt you? You can tell me. You may be scared of him, but I'm not. You don't have to let him push you around. The man's so aggressive... I know he gets angry, and he uses his strength to get what he wants. I hope he didn't hurt you."

Prompto shook his head and furrowed his brows. Why would Ignis think that? Was Prompto's paranoia rubbing off on everyone else now? Of course Gladio hadn't hurt him. "No..." He whispered. "He didn't... He wouldn't... I was the one yelling... I was so mad... Gladio wouldn't hurt me. Gladio doesn't hurt people. I... maybe I was too mean... I was the one screaming and getting mad..."

"Good. I was worried." Ignis frowned. "You seemed so scared and out of breath. I was concerned he may have lashed out physically when you were upset with him. You don't normally stand up to him. No one does."

"He wouldn't hurt anyone, Iggy." Prompto whispered, realizing once again how unfair he was being to the older man. Gladio didn't hurt him. He had no control over the fact that Ardyn used his image to trick Prompto - to attack him. Prompto was nervous and on-edge because of Ardyn, not because of Gladio. Gladio didn't deserve Prompto treating him like he was a threat, or for Ignis to wonder if he would hurt one of his friends.

"Sometimes I'm not so sure." Ignis frowned. "I can definitely understand why you'd be so frightened of him - after what happened... and Gladio's presence is just so intimidating on a normal day."

Prompto shook his head, frowning, wondering if his own lack of trust in the larger man was going to end up ruining the friendships he had formed with the others. He definitely didn't want that. "That's not fair, Iggy... Don't say that. He didn't do anything..." The younger man whispered, looking down at his hands as Ignis took one of them in his own and held it carefully. "It's Ardyn's fault I'm scared... I'm not mad at Gladio for that. I just wish he hadn't told you everything."

Ignis nodded. "He did though. I asked a few times and he didn't answer. Then today he told me everything. Perhaps he just couldn't keep it to himself any longer. Maybe he needed to vent - to let it all out of his head and into the open."

Prompto felt his lip quivering again as fresh tears pooled in his eyes. "But it's my thing - not his... I didn't want it in the open. He told me he wouldn't tell anyone, and I just wanted to move on and never talk about any of this again... But he told you, and you told Noct. I know Gladio probably didn't even tell you not to tell Noct. I know that's not your fault... But now-" He cut himself off with a shaky breath. "Everyone knows... Nothing's gonna be the same. Everyone's going to treat me different... They all know how weak and useless-" He stopped again when a sob choked its way up and out of his mouth.

"My dear, you're not useless... You don't deserve this mess, my sweet Prompto." Ignis went on, rubbing his hands gently up and down his young friend's back. "To be hurt physically, then emotionally... I'm sorry your luck has been so rotten. Gladio shouldn't have betrayed your trust."

"I don't know why..." Prompto started, interrupting himself with a shaky, tearful breath. "...why he told... and w-why he won't just admit it... He can't take it back, and I'm willing to forgive, but he won't even admit that he told you. I just wanted an apology..."

"Perhaps he's ashamed to admit that he went against what you asked of him. It's possible he feels awful for it, but just can't bring himself to admit it to you." Ignis guessed.

"I don't care how he feels. I feel awful." Prompto whispered. "I'm the one who got hurt. I'm the one who had something completely embarrassing and horrible happen to me, who just wanted to keep it quiet. It wasn't a big deal. No one had to hear a single detail about it, but he told anyway. I shouldn't have ever told even him the truth. I should have kept it all to myself from the start."

"It wasn't a big deal to you, Prompto?" Ignis frowned.

Prompto shook his head. "No." He spoke in a tiny voice. "It wasn't. He barely touched me."

Ignis grimaced. "That's not what I heard. I don't mean to be harsh-"

Prompto felt tears stinging his eyes as his lip quivered. "I just..."

"I know..." Ignis pulled Prompto back into a hug. "Regardless, it wasn't Gladio's place to tell me something you asked him not to. I'm sorry he let it slip, Prompto." Ignis spoke. "He shouldn't have."

"He promised he wouldn't tell. I didn't want things to be more awkward with everyone. Everyone's going to think-" Prompto's voice wavered as tears choked up out of his mouth.

"Everyone will think nothing, Prompto." Ignis assured him, rubbing a hand carefully over his back. "Perhaps it wasn't Gladio's place to tell me, but I am glad he did. You need the support of your friends now more than ever."

Prompto shook his head. "It's embarrassing." He whispered.

"I don't see why you should think so." Ignis frowned, still rubbing one hand lightly over Prompto's back and moving the other up to the back of his head, hugging him close. "Why are you embarrassed by the actions of someone else? What exactly happened that you're blaming yourself for?"

Prompto sniffed back tears. He really didn't think he wanted to talk about it... but maybe doing so with Ignis would be a good thing. If anyone would know exactly what to say, exactly how to perhaps make him feel better... it'd be Ignis, right? He was so smart, calculating, careful. He always knew what to say, what to do...

"What exactly happened out there, Prompto? I was only told a vague version, and it has me so worried about you." Ignis went on. "You're so young, innocent, vulnerable... And especially with Ardyn having the benefit of your trust in that moment. I can only imagine how much he could have hurt you. What did he do?"

Closing his eyes, Prompto inhaled a breath. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to make eye contact as he started explaining.

"I should have known just by the fact Gladio woke me up by slapping his hand over my mouth." He exhaled. "I woke up with his hand over my face, and I just got up and went with him anyway. How dumb can a guy be? How the hell does someone fall for that if they're not stupid?"

"It did look like him though, didn't it? What would you have had yourself think back then, when you didn't know what Ardyn could do?" Ignis asked.

"Yeah... I don't know... Just seems like I should'a noticed something was way off with him." Prompto shrugged. He knew he needed to give himself a break. Until Gladio started sort of morphing into Ardyn in front of his eyes, Prompto didn't even know such a thing was possible.

"So then what happened, Prompto?" Ignis asked.

"He said he had to show me something important, but wouldn't say what it was... I followed him away from camp, because I thought he was Gladio, and even though it was weird..." He shrugged. "It was Gladio... so I just went with it. He got me away from everyone else." Prompto whispered, looking down again. "And he started like shoving me against the stone wall out in the woods - like one of those big rock slabs out there... Wouldn't let me leave... I thought he was trying to be funny, and I just told him to stop... That it wasn't funny and I wanted to back, but he wouldn't stop."

Ignis shook his head. "You must have been so frightened, so confused."

"I was." Prompto agreed. "He like completely trapped me down there, pulled me back when I tried to leave... And he was so strong, which I know Gladio is... but it was a mean sort of strong. Not just firm, but rough. And he was pushing his hands up under my shirt, trying to get one down the front of my pants... He grabbed my face and kissed me for what felt like forever. I just held still during that... because that was the first thing he did that was... like sexual. I was scared to move. I thought it was Gladio still, and I just... I didn't know what to do..."

"I can only imagine how terrible that must have been." Ignis spoke in a low, calm tone. "To have him forcing himself on you, when he's so big and you're so small. Had to have been absolutely dreadful for you, my dear."

"It was awful, Iggy." Prompto agreed, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the other man's shoulder. "I know I said Gladio wouldn't ever hurt me, and I still think that... but in that moment, it looked like it was him... and even knowing he wouldn't do that, it really seemed like he was doing it. I didn't know what to think... I just couldn't believe it. He was so rough, pushing me around, holding me down, pinning my arms... It still looked like Gladio." He shrugged his shoulders slightly and sniffed back some tears. "S-so I was just like... Okay then... Guess Gladio's not really my friend..." He whispered, feeling his lips form into a pout. "I didn't understand why he'd do that to me."

"My poor dear... You must have been so, so scared." Ignis noted. "Gladiolus is so strong. I would have been scared too, if it were me in your place."

"I was. Really, really scared. Ignis, I was-" Prompto felt tears choking him up again as he leaned closer to Ignis's chest, hugging his friend tight, allowing Ignis to hold him close with gentle, comforting hands lightly rubbing his back, his arm. "I finally fought back, by hitting him... and he hit me back so hard." He whispered. "Then I could barely even get myself to speak, or to scream for help. I was out of breath, in pain... My nose was bleeding and I felt like he'd knocked the breath out of my chest. He pushed me really hard against the wall and twisted my arm back. I thought he was going to break it. He was trying to pull my pants down, and he had both of my arms twisted back behind me. I couldn't stop him, and I thought I was doomed... Like, I couldn't move, and he was pulling down my pants. I didn't know what I could even do to stop him."

"I'm sure your little heart was just pounding, Prompto. You must have been positively terrified." Ignis guessed.

"Yeah." Prompto agreed. "I mean... I don't know what I would have done if Gladio didn't hear me fighting back, and screaming for help earlier. I'm so glad he found me, because Ardyn was pulling my pants down, and I couldn't even fight back. He was really strong and had me like pinned there, unable to move while h-" Prompto cut himself off with a small breath. The memory of the whole thing was kind of making him nervous all over again. "Ignis, I don't know what I would have done if Gladio didn't get there when he did. What I could have done..."

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything." Ignis whispered. "He would have taken everything he wanted from you if he truly had you all alone... You couldn't have stopped him. You're lucky Gladio was there."

"Yeah. I am. And I'm so grateful that he saved me... but then, why did he tell you what happened? I told him not to." Prompto frowned, suddenly feeling a little guilty for getting so mad. Gladio couldn't have understood what it was like, to feel so small and helpless... And he did save Prompto, which was big... He deserved credit for that. But then, he didn't have to tell Ignis... and he didn't have to lie and deny telling. He could at least have admitted it and apologized.

"I just feel like a gullible idiot for falling into it. He looked like Gladio. He just started leading me out into the woods... Like, duh... That's weird. I should have known." Prompto blinked his eyes open and looked up at Ignis with a pout. "Why would the real Gladio wake me up in the middle of the night and drag me out into the rainy woods to look at something. It didn't make sense even from the beginning. I just trusted it was fine because it was Gladio."

"That's what he counted on I'm sure - that you'd go along with pretty much anything solely because it was your dear friend asking you." Ignis guessed. "He may have even counted on a bit of fear playing a role. Gladio's a large, intimidating man. Having him demand that you let him kiss you or touch you... I could see why even if you did believe it was him, you might not have fought back much."

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout. That was true. Before he really started to panic, when Ardyn - who he thought was Gladio at the time - was holding him down, forcing a kiss on him... He did plan on just holding still and waiting it out. He was confused, and a little scared of being hurt. In that moment, he figured a forced kiss was better than broken limbs, a bloody lip, a broken nose. He was scared the real Gladio might hurt him. He knew now that wouldn't have happened - that the real Gladio would have never made him choose to allow himself to be sexually assaulted without fighting back at the expense of saving himself from physical pain.

Ignis smiled softly as he looked down at Prompto's face, but didn't say anything for the moment.

"What?" Prompto frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ignis shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking, how innocent you are. How soft and sweet... It's terrible what was done to you. You didn't even understand what was happening for a while, did you? You thought he was trying to play around with you, but he was so rough... You couldn't make sense of it..."

Prompto frowned, feeling his heart sink and suddenly feeling very aware of the placement of Ignis's hands, one on his lower back and one on the back of his head. He was kind of holding on a bit more securely than necessary. It now felt more awkward than comforting.

"How long was it until you realized Gladio wasn't taking you out there to show you anything? That he wasn't playing... You thought he was joking... You just couldn't believe it even as it was happening... At what point did you realize what he wanted?" Ignis asked.

Prompto narrowed his eyes, trying to pull back out of Ignis's grip, but not being too forceful about it, just in case it really was his friend here with him now, trying to be comforting and just sort of failing at it... but he was becoming quickly increasingly concerned that it wasn't Ignis. The chef had so much more tact than this.

"Did you realize when he started kissing you? Did you think it was a joke still at that point? Or was it not until he had his hand down between your legs, rubbing, squeezing..." Ignis smirked slightly. "You still thought it was him, but when did you realize whoever it was wanted a lot more than play-wrestling? When did you know?"

"Um... J-just... When he..." Prompto trailed off, feeling panic raising in his chest. Ignis's questions were getting weird, sickeningly descriptive and personal. He seemed too happy to be asking them - like he wasn't concerned and supportive as much as trying to satisfy some sick curiosity.

"Hm? How far did he get before your innocent little mind finally knew what was happening?" Ignis asked.

"Iggy...?" Prompto whispered, reaching toward the hand on his back as he felt it moving lower, quite nearly pushing under the waistband of his pants.

"If he had been more gentle, would you have allowed it to go further?" Ignis went on, ignoring Prompto's struggles and sliding his fingertips down between Prompto's pants and his skin of his lower back. "Is that where he went wrong? Being too rough too fast, scaring you from the start? What if he threatened to hurt you, but only if you didn't let him touch you? What if he was gentle the whole time, so long as you didn't struggle?"

Prompto's eyes widened as he pushed back harder against Ignis's chest. "Stop..." He clenched his teeth, blinking back tears. This wasn't Ignis... It was Ardyn. How could Prompto be so stupid? To fall for the exact same thing twice? How easy was he making this for the man? He hadn't made Ignis do a damn thing to prove he was who he said he was. He just let the guy take him off alone, into a motel room... And Prompto didn't even know which room they were in. Was there a chance of one of his friends coming by and stopping this? If he called for help, would anyone hear?

"We can try this again, a little less roughly." Ignis's voice spoke, out of what looked like Ignis's mouth... but Prompto was pretty sure the man grabbing onto him, forcing him to stay close was not Ignis. "We'll do it right this time. I'll be more careful. There's no reason it has to be forceful."

Prompto looked toward the motel room's door, wondering if he should call out. He wondered if Gladio was nearby at this point. Maybe he'd gotten mad and left. Prompto wouldn't have blamed him. Once again, Prompto was angry with the man for something he hadn't done. It would have been weird if Gladio did stick around after being treated like that.

"Unless you want me to be rough?" Ignis's voice laughed. He pulled Prompto closer, wrapping his arm around Prompto's back to sort of hug him against his chest as his other hand wandered down, groping slowly between his legs.

"Please stop..." Prompto gasped, shoving Ignis back and trying to stand.

Ignis grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back, throwing him fairly roughly onto the bed's mattress and starting to climb on top of him. "Don't fight me, Prompto. I don't want this to turn violent again." He warned.

"No! Don't!" Prompto winced, trying to stand back up as Ardyn pinned his arms down. "Please!"

"Come on, Sweetheart." Ignis laughed. "Don't make me hurt you. Things got so harsh last time and they didn't have to be. That was your fault. I don't have to be rough. I certainly can be, but I don't have to. If you would have just allowed me what I desired the first time, I wouldn't have had to hit you, I wouldn't have choked you. It would have been thrilling for us both."

Prompto let out a frustrated growl as he pulled at his arms and tried to twist his body away from his attacker. Ardyn was so strong. "Get off of me! And stop looking like Ignis, you fucking creep!" Prompto screamed, closing his eyes as he continued tugging painfully, uselessly at his arms.

"Aww... I thought you'd like it... I saw you two snuggling by the camp fire the other night. You seem very close... Are you sure this isn't what you want?" Ardyn mocked, still using Ignis's voice as he squeezed his hands harder around Prompto's arms and pinned the boy's body down with his own legs. "You've never thought of doing something like this? All those nights in the tent together? Sleeping so close... I'll bet they've each thought about touching you... You're so soft, small, obviously easy to subdue... They might not have said so, but there's no way none of them have considered pinning you down, begging you to let them touch you without you screaming... And you know as well as I do, Gladio could do it either way. Hell, any of them could. You're so powerless. And I'll bet they'd love it regardless - with you willing or not. Your little breaths, your moans when you're in pain... The way you close your eyes to keep from crying and shake when you're scared. Even when you don't kiss back, it's nice."

Prompto whimpered again as he felt Ardyn drag both of his arms together and pin them down with one hand, running the other gently down his chest, back up, and then down again, sliding his fingers down the front of his victim's pants. "Please!" Prompto choked, still hardly able to move under the other man's weight. "Please stop! I don't wanna do this!"

"Yes you do. You'll enjoy it. Just breathe." Ardyn spoke with Ignis's voice, still forcing his hand down further, pulling the garment down slightly as he went. Fortunately, his belt was keeping the guy from getting far, but Prompto knew it wouldn't save him forever.

Shaking his head and blinking through unshed tears, Prompto looked back up at him, cringing at the fact that he still looked like Ignis. Prompto knew it wasn't his friend this time, but that didn't change the fact that it looked and sounded just like him. It was beyond cruel for Ardyn to change his appearance like that - especially to upkeep it, to try to involve the images of his friends in this hell when they had nothing to do with it.

"Shhh... I'll be careful. We tried this the Gladiolus way. You didn't like it..." The Ignis-impostor shook his head and stuck his lips out in a mocking pout. "I can do it the Ignis way now... I'm sure he'd be gentle if you let him."

Prompto shook his head and pulled at his arms, squeezing his eyes shut as more tears welled up. Ignis wouldn't ever do this to him. "Get off of me!" Prompto cried, tugging at his arms.

"Shhh. Relax." The Ignis-impostor whispered, leaning down close, running a hand up through Prompto's hair as his other hand trailed down over the younger man's chest, back down toward his waist.

"No!" Prompto whimpered, gritting his teeth as he felt a hand on his belt, unbuckling it and loosening it.

"We can use your mouth instead if you're scared it'll hurt the other way." Ignis smirked, holding Prompto down with one hand around his upper-arm as he reached his other down toward the boy's neck, holding loosely, but threateningly. "Which would you prefer?" He cocked his head to the side.

With a shaking whimper, Prompto reached down toward his attacker's hand, trying to pry it away from himself. "Don't touch me! Stop! Somebody help me! Hel-" Prompto was cut off as Ignis, who was definitely actually Ardyn, slammed a hand down hard over his mouth.

"Please don't make me be rough with you." Ardyn growled, pressing his hand down hard over Prompto's face. "Don't forget what you made me do last time. I don't want to have to nearly choke you to death, and certainly wouldn't want to have to hit you again."

Prompto tried to scream under the hand stifling his voice as Ardyn pushed his hand harder over the younger man's lips. His other hand groped lower again, grabbing, squeezing painfully.

"I could get this hard for you." Ardyn whispered as he grabbed harshly between Prompto's legs. "Bet it'd take all of five minutes... Pull down your pants, turn you around, and go to town... You'll love it... I'll have you gasping and shaking... Moaning - you won't even know if it's from pain or pleasure. Maybe both all at once."

Prompto shook his head and tried to scream again as he grabbed desperately toward Ardyn's hand, grabbing around the man's arm and trying without success to pry it away from him.

"Or... You can shut the hell up for a damn second, and use your mouth on me. I'd certainly enjoy it, and if you're scared of getting hurt..." Ardyn trailed off, smirking as he squeezed even harder down below. "I'll let you choose - if you promise not to bite... Or I can choose if you'd rather."

Prompto choked out a pained, frightened sob as he shook his head, finally knocking back Ardyn's hand. "Get off of me! Please!" He whimpered, groaning in pain as Ardyn positioned himself on top of him, pinning one of Prompto's legs down with one of his own and putting quite a bit of weight onto his thigh. Ardyn grabbed at Prompto's arms next, pinning both wrists together over his head and leaning down closer.

"Well, which do you want? Up top, or down below?" Ardyn smiled.

Prompto shook his head. "Please let me go!" He winced. There was no way he was agreeing to any of this, even by simply choosing to be hurt and degraded in one way over the other. He wasn't playing along. He wasn't give this man any version of permission to do what he wanted to do.

"I'm fine with choosing then." Ardyn shrugged. "You love it too... You might not realize it yet, but you will when you're gasping for breaths, moaning, shaking... If you've never done this before, boy are you in for a treat." He laughed.

"No!" Prompto screamed, pulling at his arms and trying to twist his body under his attacker's. Ardyn held him down so firmly, so painfully, definitely creating bruises, fully preventing him from moving. If no one heard him this time, it didn't seem like he was going to be getting out of this. "Ardyn, please!" He begged, feeling increasingly scared, increasingly desperate. "Please don't do this..."

"Shhh... You're okay. Don't make me hurt you, sweet boy. I won't claim I don't enjoy it, but it's not necessary here. Just let me take what I want gently." Ardyn whispered, pressing his lips against Prompto's, shoving his tongue forcefully into the younger man's mouth.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered softly. He wished Ardyn would at the very least drop the mirage trick. This was painful enough without having the man look like his friend during it. Prompto knew it wasn't Ignis on top of him at this point, but it looked and sounded like him. When he remembered this moment later, he was going to associate it with Ignis's image... Just like he associated the other attack with Gladio. Even knowing it wasn't Gladio the last time wasn't enough to keep Prompto from feeling nervous around the man.

Groaning in pain, Prompto choked back tears as Ardyn's rough, unwanted kiss continued. He was scared of course, but also in quite a bit of pain. Ardyn was holding him down so hard. His wrists throbbed. He could feel the man creating a large bruise on Prompto's thigh with his knee forcefully holding Prompto's leg down, and now the man's other free hand was wandering again, unbuttoning and pulling at the waist of Prompto's pants, weaseling his fingers down under the band.

Letting out a muffled scream, Prompto tugged uselessly at this trapped wrists and tried to shrink back as Ardyn made more and more progress, squeezing his hand down the front of the smaller man's pants, over his underwear, but still way, way too close.

The Ignis-impostor finally drew back from the kiss with a smug smirk, leaving Prompto gasping for a breath before resuming screaming. "Get your hands off of me! Stop it! Help me!" He sobbed. "Gladio! Noct! Help! Ig-"

"We can do it rough then." Ignis smiled, a glint of anger, but also excitement in his eye as he pressed his forearm down across Prompto's throat.

Prompto narrowed his eyes and grimaced as he tried to take a breath. Ardyn had let go of his arms now, so he could hold Prompto down with one arm and continue painfully groping between the boy's legs with his other hand.

"Please-" Prompto whispered, grabbing desperately at Ardyn's arm as he felt the man's other hand squeezing and rubbing down below, still over his underwear at least, but it hardly mattered. It was painful and humiliating either way, and Prompto was well aware it wasn't going to stop any time soon. Ardyn was going to escalate, hurt him worse, and there was nothing Prompto could do about it.

"Shhh..." Ardyn smiled as he continued slowly rubbing his hand, staring into Prompto's eyes. "I wish you would have just let yourself calm down. I honestly didn't want to have to hurt you this time. It was so rough before... Having to hit you, choke you, hold your arms down with such force... You poor thing... You were crying so hard, barely able to stand. I didn't want to hit you, but you were being difficult. I wanted it to be different this time."

Prompto let out a shaky, choked sob. He could hardly breathe. He reached down toward Ardyn's groping hand, choosing this time to prioritize that over the arm lying across his throat. It wasn't like he was going to be able to move either one.

"Can I let you make a choice here sweetheart? Can you do that for me?" Ardyn cocked his head to the side as he shifted slightly on top of Prompto's legs. "Just humor me here... And give yourself some control in this. You might find it makes you feel better. You can choose to use your mouth, satisfy me... It'll take like ten minutes, and it won't even hurt you, and then we can call it done for now... or we can turn you over, pull down your pants, and I can do all the work. It might hurt more for you, especially knowing you're likely to fight me the whole time... but you also may find you really enjoy it if you don't fight it and let me be careful. I'll even let you choose who you want me to look like."

Blinking and breathing in a muffled breath, Prompto felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest. The way Ardyn had moved just now caused one of his legs to be pretty much free... If he was going to have a chance to fight back and get out of this, it might just be now... As scary as the thought was of fighting back, maybe getting hurt so much worse, he knew he had to try. It was that, or suffer through this, hoping one of his friends would come check on him... or that they may have heard his screams... He screamed what felt like ages ago though, and no one had come yet. He couldn't afford to wait longer.

Closing his eyes, Prompto held his breath and brought his knee up as hard as he could between his attackers legs. "Get the hell off of me!" He screamed breathlessly, rolling to the side when the man let go and stumbled back long enough for him to do so.

"You little rat!" Ignis's voice was starting to sound less and less like him. And of course, Prompto was well aware by now that it wasn't really Ignis anyway. He was sounding more like Ardyn now, but still looked like Ignis.

"Don't touch me!" Prompto screamed as he scrambled toward the door. He tripped when his attacker grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged him backward, but Prompto was more than tired of playing nice and hoping for the best. Last time, he didn't escape by lying still and allowing the man to hurt him for fear of being hurt worse. He screamed, hit, kicked... And he did get hurt worse for it... but he also got saved when his friend heard him.

"Let me go!" Prompto cried as he felt hands grabbing roughly at his upper arms. "Get off of me! Let go!" He balled his hand into a fist, preparing to hit the Ignis-lookalike, but a large hand reached up and grabbed his arm in a tight fist before he could. Prompto cried out a pained scream as his arm was squeezed painfully and forced back down, pinned harshly against the wall behind him, so near to the motel's door. He was so close to his escape.

"I wasn't going to hurt you, boy... But now I certainly will." The man growled as he morphed fully into Ardyn.

"Please let me go!" Prompto sobbed. "I didn't do anything to you! Why are you doing this!?"

Ardyn simply laughed. "You don't get your answers. Not until I get what I want." He smirked as he reached down toward Prompto's belt. "I hope you're ready for the time of your little life..."

"No!" Prompto screamed, his voice shaking with tears. "Don't fucking touch me!" He shouted, stomping a foot down onto Ardyn's, kneeing him in the crotch again, shoving him back against his chest as hard as he could, and finally gripping the door knob as the larger man stumbled back very slightly.

With a shaking breath and tears streaming down his face, Prompto shoved his attacker back just enough to give him the window of opportunity he needed. He swung the door open and stumbled outside, looking back into the room as he rushed toward what was hopefully his salvation.

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	13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

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Gladio glared at nothing in particular as he sat on the end of the bed in his room with his arms crossed angrily across his chest. He really didn't know what to do at this point. He didn't know how to solve this, how to get Prompto to trust him again.

The poor kid had been so upset just now, once again believing that Gladio had done something he didn't do. Gladio promised he wouldn't tell the others more details, and he didn't, even knowing they would have been supportive. It seemed like something everyone should have been told, but for Prompto's peace of mind, he hadn't told them. He went against his better judgement, kept secrets from the group, didn't urge Prompto to talk more, to get this all out in the open and dealt with properly. He did it all for Prompto, because that's what the boy asked of him... And now Prompto was positively pissed at him, terrified even.

He stared at the closed door, glaring, but beginning to feel his anger and frustration turning into a bit of anxiety and uncertainty. If Noctis told Prompto that Ignis told him what happened, and Ignis claimed it was Gladio who told him... Somewhere in there was a trick - potentially a trap. Ardyn could have posed as Gladio earlier today and told Ignis... Or Ardyn could have posed as Ignis and told Noctis... Or Noctis could have been Ardyn when he told Prompto...

Blinking and frowning, Gladio thought about this some more. Ignis had just been in here, and he told Gladio himself that Gladio had told him everything. So either Ardyn told Ignis as Gladio... Or Ignis was Ardyn... right now.

Inhaling a small breath and feeling his eyes widen, Gladio stood up. Prompto was with Ignis, and Gladio didn't really know where the two had gone. By his own calculations, there was a fifty-fifty chance that Ignis wasn't even really Ignis - he was Ardyn.

It made sense. If Ardyn wanted to trick Prompto into going with him again, he could sew these seeds of discord among the group, pose as Ignis - the one everyone was bound to trust - the kind, gentle, calm one. Of course Prompto would go with the cook without question. He probably wouldn't have required any proof that the man was who he said he was, because it was Ignis. He was so kind, so patient, so comforting. Even just seeing him was enough to put someone's mind at ease.

"Damn it..." Gladio grumbled under his breath. He had to find them. Maybe Ardyn wasn't even posing as Ignis at all. Maybe he'd posed as Gladio earlier in the day. Maybe in this moment, Prompto wasn't in any danger. But maybe he was... Gladio had to make sure.

So he exited his room, immediately feeling a crushingly heavy sense of helplessness. He didn't know where they went. He had no idea where to start looking. He was starting from pretty much nothing. They had been gone for several minutes already. Adryn could have taken Prompto out of the building, led him to a car... If he somehow managed to get the keys to the regalia, Prompto wouldn't have even questioned it. He would have gotten in with the man and let him take him away...

Before Gladio really even had a moment to try to think of the various possibilities and decide where to start looking first, he felt someone collide rather hard right into his back.

Gladio turned with a frown to find it was Prompto, but the boy wasn't looking where he was going. He slammed right into Gladio, then immediately started stumbling back, all without ever actually looking forward. He was still focused on whatever he was running from.

With a relieved exhale, Gladio quickly grabbed onto the boy's arms before he could fall back.

"No!" Prompto screamed, thrashing wildly in his grip. "Let me go! Get off of me!"

Gladio felt his shoulders slump, but let go, allowing Prompto to stumble back and fall rather ungracefully to the ground.

The younger man crawled frantically backward, then blinked as he looked up at Gladio, seemingly only now even realizing who was standing in front of him. It wasn't fear on his face now though, but extreme relief.

"Gladio!" Prompto sobbed, scrambling back up to his feet and throwing himself into the man's arms. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't believe you!"

"What's going on?" Gladio frowned, hugging the boy back briefly before pulling back enough to see him more clearly, trying to determine if he was injured. He looked alright on the outside. Gladio looked him up and down. His clothes were still in place for the most part. His belt was unbuckled and his pants were unbuttoned, but nothing more was askew. The garment wasn't pulled down at all. The boy didn't seem to be bleeding or otherwise hurt. He hadn't been gone with Ignis for long at all. There was hardly time to hurt him too badly.

"Gladio, he might be following me..." Prompto gasped between shaky, tearful breaths. "It's not really Ignis..."

Gladio glanced behind Prompto. No one was there. No one was following him. He looked back down, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders and drawing him back so he could observe any potential injuries. "You okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" Gladio questioned.

Prompto shook his head. "It's Iggy... Ardyn... It was him! You were right... You didn't tell him. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Gladio. You said you wouldn't tell and you didn't. I was wrong... It was Ardyn. Iggy was! I d- I don't even know for how long! How long was it Ardyn!? Where's the real Ignis?! What if he's dead!? What if Ardyn killed him!?"

Gladio exhaled, looking behind Prompto again, toward one of the doors that was hanging open down the hall. That was definitely a legitimate concern. If the Ignis Gladio just saw was Ardyn, where was the real Ignis? Gladio didn't remember specifically asking Ignis for any concrete proof he was who he said he was... But he had seemed so much like himself these past few days. Nothing seemed off. It seemed Ardyn couldn't have been posing as the man for long. Someone would have noticed... Right?

"Is he in his room?" Gladio asked with a frown. The quickest way to get to the bottom of this would be to find Ardyn, ask him what the hell his problem was, demand that he tell them where Ignis was, fight him if he had to.

"He was... In one of the rooms. I don't know... I didn't even pay attention to where he was taking me... and I ran out so fast... I think it was three doors down. I thought it was Iggy. I thought I was safe." Prompto's lower lip trembled as he drew himself closer to Gladio's chest and stared nervously over his shoulder down the hallway. "I'm such an idiot... How do I fall for the same damn thing over and over? I've even been jumpy as hell, reluctant to fucking trust anyone... How did this happen again?"

Gladio frowned as he looked down at his precious little friend, leaning into him, sniffing back tears, breathing shaky, frightened breaths. The poor kid had been through so much these past few days. For some reason this man Ardyn had targeted Prompto, and he was such a painfully easy target, unfortunately. Naturally trusting, sensitive, not all that physically strong. He had obvious insecurities to use against him - the fear of not fitting in, of disappointing his friends, of not being as capable as the others. Ardyn had such an easy time getting the boy to trust him, to fall into his traps.

"This guy's abilities are horrifying, Prompto. He's meticulous, cunning... This time he put a lot of thought into it. You couldn't have known. This isn't your fault. We all need to watch out for this with more attention." Gladio noted, placing his hand on Prompto's collar when the younger man laid his forehead against Gladio's shoulder and let out a tiny, frustrated sob.

"Please don't be upset with yourself, kid..." Gladio spoke in a small voice, feeling himself almost getting choked up just seeing and feeling how upset his friend was. Prompto absolutely didn't deserve this, and was clearly entirely unsure where to turn, what to do, who to trust. For the past few days, the younger man seemed scared to come anywhere near Gladio. The boy flinched every time the older man walked past him... Now he didn't seem so scared of him. Or maybe he was still scared and just felt so trapped that Gladio was still his best bet.

Gladio put his arm around Prompto, holding his friend close, hopefully making him feel secure and protected. "You're okay now, Prompto. I won't let him get near you. That's a promise. I don't think he followed you though. He may have fled... but I can check, if you stay here-"

"I don't know..." Prompto hesitated, his voice small as he stared down the quiet hall toward the open door he had likely just fled from. "He could be dangerous, and I don't want you getting hurt-"

"Prompto? Gladio? What's going on?" Noctis's voice asked from several yards away. He and Ignis were walking briskly up toward them.

"Stay away from me!" Prompto screamed upon seeing Ignis. He darted behind Gladio, holding onto the back of the man's shirt with shaking fingers.

"What happened?" Ignis frowned.

"Noct, has Iggy been with you for a while?" Gladio asked, moving his arm back behind himself, putting his hand on Prompto's arm in an attempt to assure the younger man he was safe here.

"Yeah. Like all night." Noctis frowned. "Prompto?" The prince leaned to the side to better see his friend.

"You were together? No one left for five or ten minutes and came back?" Gladio narrowed his eyes. Ignis looked confused, concerned... but it could have still been Ardyn, pretending to not undertsand.

"We've been down in the lobby talking." Ignis explained. "All night. No breaks... Gladio... Tell me what's going on..." He spoke in a low, serious voice.

Noctis grimaced. "Did Ardyn do something? Was he posing as one of us again? Me and Iggy have been together all night. I swear..."

"Ardyn was posing as Ignis." Gladio explained, shaking his head. "Just now. Right here, with the real Ignis right down stairs, in the same location. That's bold."

"Where was he?" Noctis glared, balling his hand into a fist. "Prompto, did he hurt you?"

"He didn't hurt me. I'm okay... He was in one of the rooms. A few doors down that way." Prompto whispered, nodding behind himself.

"We'll go find him." Noctis growled, heading down the line of rooms.

"Noct... I bet he's gone. He probably fled when I got away, knowing he'd have to fight all of us... Unless he's willing to do that... Maybe you guys shouldn't go check..." Prompto stared, eyes wide. "Noct! Noct, be careful! He's really strong!" He shouted, jogging up behind his friend, prompting Ignis and Gladio to follow as well.

They made it to a room with the door partway open. Noctis pushed it open the rest of the way and barged inside. "Ardyn!?" He growled.

Prompto peered cautiously into the room next. Gladio leaned over the smaller man, looking into the space as well. It was empty. Just a regular room with no one inside. "He must have run off again." Gladio guessed.

"Why does he keep doing this?" Prompto breathed out shakily. "Why won't he just leave me alone?"

Ignis shook his head, looking over at Prompto with a sad frown. "Prompto, are you alright?" He asked. No one had really gotten much of an answer out of him so far as to what had happened, whether or not Ardyn hurt him.

"I'm fine." Prompto answered, looking down, then looking back up at Ignis with a frown, shrinking down slightly. "Gladio didn't actually tell you anything, did he? You don't know what happened the first time?"

Ignis shook his head no. "He said I'd have to ask you... and you clearly didn't want to talk about it, so I let it go. But I may have a fairly accurate guess."

Prompto closed his eyes and exhaled. "Do you guys mind... Well... I mean... Not to be annoying, but... Do you think we, like just for tonight - like... stick together. All four of us? Can we all share a room tonight? I'll sleep on the floor... I know it's nice to finally be a motel and not have to sleep on the ground, and have actual beds... I'll seriously sleep on the floor... I just..."

"You don't have to sleep on the floor. It's a good idea that we stick together, I think. The beds are more spacious than the tent, so we'll be fine." Gladio shrugged.

"We'll sleep in a pile." Noctis laughed.

Prompto laughed too. "Won't be the first time."

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	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

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They headed back to the room Gladio and Prompto were going to share and settled down. Prompto and Noctis sat on the bed while Gladio and Ignis each chose a chair.

As much as he really didn't want to relive all of this again, he did think it was time everyone knew the full truth. As it was, Gladio knew just about all of it, Noctis knew some version of it - told to him by Ardyn posing as Ignis... Ignis could only guess, but was likely mostly accurate. It only made sense for Prompto to just lay it all out, separate fact from assumption or lie...

That, and if Ardyn could pose as anyone he wanted, and he was willing to attempt to sexually assault someone, the others had a right to know exactly what the man was capable of. He supposed it would make everyone safer - including himself, if everyone knew for sure what to watch out for.

Prompto swallowed nervously, then began talking. "So the first night, Ardyn tricked me into going out into the woods. I didn't really lie about what happened so much as I didn't tell you guys all of it... So what I did say did happen... He really did trick me into following me out there. He looked like Gladio, so I trusted him. And then at a certain point he attacked me... That's where I didn't tell you guys everything. He took me pretty far from camp, pushed me when I tried to leave - 'cuz I still thought it was Gladio, and I was annoyed with him. I thought he was trying to joke around. I was tired. It was raining... But then he started getting grabby... forced me to kiss him, tried to push his hand under my shirt and down my pants... I started fighting back and he hit me and choked me with his arm. He was trying to pull my pants down when I finally started hearing the real Gladio calling out, looking for me."

Gladio inhaled a small breath from across the room. He knew all of this already, but it was still probably hard to hear coming from Prompto's mouth. Prompto wasn't entirely sure how Gladio felt about all this - to have his image used to hurt one of his friends. It had to be frustrating at the very least.

"So... I mean, he didn't do it... But he was gonna." Prompto forced a small laugh. "It's fine... I'm okay and he didn't like really do that much. I was more scared of what was coming than what actually happened. I knew what he was going to do. I could hardly believe it, because he still looked like Gladio. I didn't know it was possible for someone to make themselves look exactly like someone else... So I was just kinda stunned... like shocked. I'm not that naive - I knew what was coming next... I just could hardly believe it because it was Gladio... Even when I heard the real Gladio in the distance, I just couldn't understand... I got really scared and I've been anxious and jumpy ever since, maybe just knowing how close he got, knowing how easy it was. Worrying that he could make himself look like any of you..."

Ignis shook his head. "I figured it was something like that. It seems he is a very sick, twisted man. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Prompto." He frowned. "To have Gladio's image, then later mine used to take advantage of your trust, to hurt you..."

Prompto forced a small smile. "It's not your fault." He shrugged. "You don't have to be sorry. I've been being kind of a jerk, to Gladio mostly..." He frowned and shot Gladio a quick glance. "I'm sorry..."

"Prompto, don't say that." Gladio frowned. "Don't be sorry... What happened to you had to have been horrifying. I can't even imagine how you've felt ever since... I don't blame you for being nervous. If I've seemed disappointed or upset with you keeping your distance, know I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with Ardyn for scaring the hell out of you. This whole thing is his fault. Not yours. Not Iggy's or mine... Only his."

Prompto inhaled and nodded. "I know. It's just... I wish I didn't feel so nervous... I'm so positive you'd never, ever hurt me, but I've felt scared of you anyway. It's not fair."

"What happened tonight, Prompto?" Noctis asked, putting his hand carefully on the other man's shoulder.

"Well, Ardyn was posing as Ignis... I think his goal was to get me mad at Gladio, so he could swoop in and play nice-guy... Take me off alone again... And I fell for it. He..." Prompto grimaced. "He got me talking, telling him everything, how scared I was... He was hugging me..." The young man shuddered. "Now that I realize it was him... man... that's sick... I think he just wanted to hear me say back what he did, how I felt... And he had his hands on me... I thought it was Iggy. I let him hug me, rub his hand on my back... I just let him."

Noctis exhaled and shook his head. "What a sick monster... Prompto... Did he hurt you?"

Prompto shook his head. "I fought back better this time. I was scared, but I was a lot more scared of not getting away than getting hurt. Last time I didn't fight back much, and he didn't ease up. This time I was determined to get the hell away from him at pretty much all costs. I fought him off and ran. I did some of the stuff you taught me, Gladio... Your self defense stuff..."

"Good. I hope you hurt him." Gladio stared, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think I did a little. Not that much though." Prompto shrugged. "He seems practically invincible... When I fought back, I think he was more angry than hurt - like pissed off that I'd even dare... But he didn't even seem to feel it."

"I'm sorry you had to go through this twice." Ignis frowned. "And I'll understand if you require more patience and space from here. I'm sorry he used my image to lure you closer. The power he wields and the way he uses it... It's positively cruel."

Prompto nodded. "I'm gonna try really hard not to keep being a jumpy freak around you guys. We just need to come up with a better way to identify each other - quickly, foolproof... Like, not a code word, not twenty questions... But like a symbol or something..."

"Like a gesture?" Noctis wondered. "And hand signal?"

"No... Because Ardyn could see us doing it and figure it out." Prompto disagreed. "Maybe like a brooch or patch we could wear inside our jackets or on the underside of our shoes... So we could subtly flash it and know we are who we say we are... without being obvious."

"Where are we gonna get something like that?" Noctis wondered.

"I can fashion something if you let me know what you want it to look like. I've got a sewing kit and I definitely know how to use it. I've been mending everyone's clothes at camp. I've got some material scraps of various colors. I could sew a sort of patch or icon." Ignis offered.

"I didn't knew you sewed, Iggy... I wondered how that hole in my shirt disappeared..." Prompto narrowed his eyes. "We can could make like... chocobo-chocobro-bro-brooches."

"What?" Ignis raised his eyebrows.

"A brooch, that looks like a chocobo... so we all know that the bro who shows his chocobo brooch is one of us - a chocobro." Prompto explained.

Gladio sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Good lord, Prompto." Ignis laughed. "Very well. I think I could manage."

"Make 'em the same tones as each of our chocobos! Like each of our favorite chocobos. It'll be another tiny hint to look for." Prompto suggested.

"I don't have a favorite chocobo." Gladio denied the claim, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning.

"Yes you do." Prompto stared.

Gladio shook his head. "Which one do you for some reason think is my favorite?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"Um... I don't know, Gladio, maybe the one you named!" Prompto laughed.

Gladio frowned as his three friends laughed.

"He's got you there, Gladio." Noctis noted.

"Well, anyway... it'll be good to have a subtle symbol we can kinda quickly show each other without having to come out and ask or make things awkward..." Prompto went on. "And also, just try not to be fuckin' weird around me... I know it goes without saying at this point, but anyone acting weird's gonna run the risk of me punching 'em. I'm sick of this guy, and I'm not taking any more chances. I'm done being nervous."

"Good." Gladio nodded. "We've got enough to worry about without having to doubt each other."

"It'll be nice to be able to put this all behind us." Ignis agreed. "But if anyone does have doubts, concerns, or worries, remember, we're all here together to support each other. I know I certainly won't be offended if anyone wants confirmation I am who I say I am. No matter what. Just ask me something only I'd know."

"That goes for me too. If this guy can make himself look like anyone he wants, I don't think it's unreasonable to double check." Noctis nodded.

"You too, Gladio?" Prompto frowned toward him, his brows furrowed.

"Of course... Don't anyone be scared of offending me..." Gladio answered. "I'm gonna be asking you all to prove you're not him too. This is an issue that affects all of us. If anyone ever has any doubts, we need to just ask. Don't be afraid to hurt any feelings."

Prompto exhaled and let himself fall back against the bed. "Thanks, guys." He spoke in a small voice as he closed his eyes. "For being patient with me these past few days... and kind of always really... I know I've been a lot to deal with recently."

"You're fine, Prompto." Noctis assured him, placing a hand lightly on his arm. "None of this is on you. I am glad Ardyn showed us he has this ability without causing any really serious damage though... He could have killed you... Or taken you somewhere."

Prompto swallowed and frowned over at his friend. "I know. I guess it's good he only did as little as he did, and that we know to watch out for it now without anything really major happening. I mean, not to say it didn't feel major to me..."

"No, Prompto. It was major. This is a big deal still... Just, it could have been worse and I'm glad it wasn't." Noctis explained.

Prompto let out a small, nervous laugh. "Yeah. I agree."

"Sounds like it's about time we all get some sleep, eh?" Ignis suggested. "We'll work on those chocobo bro... whatever it was you said - in the morning... and we'll be very cautious from here on out."

"Chocobro chocobo bro brooches." Prompto reminded him.

"Right." Ignis laughed.

"Ardyn sure as hell won't have one of those." Gladio laughed.

xxxxxx

The End

xxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. I felt a little stuck at the end because obviously I can't have the group fully deal with and "get rid of" or "defeat" Ardyn at this point without stretching this story a lot further into the game's plot than I wanted to... or completely re-writing the game's ending - which I also didn't want to delve into... So I'm ending it here - a main issue the characters dealt with here was Prompto feeling nervous/uncertain and not wanting to talk about what happened, fear of being judged... but he finally decided to accept his bros' support - now that everyone's on the same page and Prompto knows his boys are with him and support him, I think it lightens the issue. Hopefully everyone reading is okay with where/how I chose to end it.
> 
> I have written 3 more Final Fantasy XV stories that I'll be publishing soon. If you enjoyed this one, you'll probably like the others. They're each a bit different in theme than the last. One is medium length and the other two are pretty short. Prompto's the main focus in all three. One has Gladio as the other main character, one has Noctis as the other main, and the third kind of has all three of the others equally represented. Stay tuned!!
> 
> (Also have a Reno and Rude story for Final Fantasy VII coming soon if you're into that.)


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